SAM
by InannaOfTheMoon
Summary: On the night she was able to fully think for the first time in forever, the only thing she thought of was running, to be as far away as possible. She was finally free from them. Somehow, she knew the voice calling her name over and over in her mind during all these years was her only chance. Part of my Harry Potter/X-Files AU. FINISHED.
1. The Escape

**Author's Notes:  
** I revised and edited it as much as I could, but I am not a native English speaker,  
so if you see any mistakes regarding grammar and misuse of a word, I am sorry/please tell me so I can fix it!

This is (for now) the only fully written fanfiction for my HP/XF AU.  
Headcanons, fanarts and more on the link in my profile.

* * *

On the night she finally retrieved her own thoughts and will, she only thought of running. Some stood in her way, but not for long – they were there standing in her way for years already, and she would not tolerate it anymore. The first thing she noticed when she stepped out of the building, running like a racehorse, was the cool air of the night against her skin. She was used to being cold, but that was way too much for her.

Yet, her feet never stopped moving her across the yard. Some guards tried to shoot her - they fell limp in their watchtowers right away. She was able to pass by some of them without being noticed, somehow. She didnt understand that, but didn't complain either.

She ran into the dark, through the trees, hurting her feet so badly that later she would barely be able to stand. But she kept going on, not yet feeling it, the absolute terror and other kinds of pain still so sharp in her that the wounds on her feet for running on rocks and the cuts on her knees for falling down and the ones on her hands for pushing branches away from her path were mere papercuts to her in that moment.

She heard their voices yelling, and the explosions as they tried to hit her down with spells, but the trees and the rocky slope were in her favour, helping her out silently. A couple of times, she felt a soft impact around her as if she was caught inside an invisible wave, but they didn't hurt her. She was also moving in a weird way she could not explain, sometimes looking forward to get to somewhere right in front of her the fastest she could, and in a second, there she was.

She kept running down that mountainside, wishing to be somewhere else, anywhere but there.

As if a genie had granted her wish, she was engulfed by the darkness for a couple of seconds and suddenly she was in a place that looked completely different. Her wounded feet hit the snow, the cold getting inside her skin painfully as she looked around at unknown trees.

The air smelled slightly different, too. The screams and the footsteps behind her ceased and everything was deadly quiet. She held herself, her arms around her bony torso - when she broke out of the facility, she was wearing nothing but her thin gown, and felt terribly cold in that midwinter's snow. She was lost and had no idea of where she was.

But that voice she knew so well was there in her head, still calling her name. And with it, a hundred of other voices that were not like that first one, and that were also not hers were talking nonstop in her brain in languages she could not understand.

She panicked, gripping her head between her hands, overwhelmed by the feeling of having her mind so crowded she felt as if she was about to explode. She sat on the snow, unable to stand on her wounded feet any longer. Warm tears came out, the fear and the cold shaking her weak body with iron hands.

However, she had her mind back.

After all this time, and even with her brain overflowing with voices she could not understand, her mind was now crystal clear without the spells, it was her own at last and not even the extreme cold and crippling fear could ever take that away from her.

Thinking hard about what she was going to do next and what she needed to know, she inhaled the frozen air, slowly. The burning sensation in her lungs waking her up and calming her down, little by little. She sat like that for a while, trying to solve this puzzle: she paid attention to the voices, and one by one, she heard what they were saying and silenced them out of her head right away. Soon, they were all silenced for good and everything was clear, clearer than ever.

Somehow, she was able to understand the whispers. They told her things she wanted to know, and things she never wanted to see again, but they were mostly used in her favor.

The voices told her it was December 29, 1995; she was somewhere in Albania, in the middle of a forsaken by the gods forest.

She heard about Magic, Muggles, house chores not done in time, songs she didn't remember listening to in radio stations.

She heard of things she felt she shouldn't know.

She heard comforting thoughts next to a fireplace, and the desperate thoughts of hunger.

The feelings of real people, somewhere nearby.

At that point she was shivering so badly she felt her fingers and toes slowly going numb with the cold and wished she had real warm clothes on her, a thick cloak, pants – and once more and as mysteriously as her escape into this frozen forest, a large red coat and black thick pants showed up on her body, from anywhere she could explain.

Warm and her mind now silent and see-through, she slowly began to understand what was happening and just as slowly, the memories of all those years, clouded by all sorts of spells and potions and other horrors she could not name were being retrieved by her tired brain.

With a shiver that was not related to the winter air, she remembered the tests and the people around her talking about the magic. It was all magic, of her own doing. That made sense to her, even though she could not remember that magic could only be done with wands and potions and special artifacts on 90% of the times and with most magical people.

She could not realize yet at that very moment, minutes after her very improbable escape, what the testers actually did to her. She could barely understand who she was, in first place.

It was slow but and it took almost her entire life and constant tries, but she was finally free from them. Sitting in the snow, her bare feet wrapped in her coat, she was vaguely remembering things from before that, before the facility. A group of people, like very thin, frail ghosts coming back from her own past.

She could not see their faces.

She turned her attention to that voice inside her mind that was still calling and calling her faintly, but nonstop over all these years. It was very clear now that she had no one else but herself in her own mind. That voice was the sole reason why she knew she had a name at all. Somehow she knew she was not just "intercepting" that voice like she did with all the others a few minutes ago. They were different from that voice she heard constantly and she knew that it was her name, and that voice was calling for her and not someone else.

She had just escaped very dangerous people, and was lost somewhere in the wilderness. She had no choices, and nowhere to go. That was her only chance.

She closed her eyes and concentrated.

And she wished again, feeling that sensation of being engulfed by complete darkness for a few seconds before seeing a faint light come through her eyelids, at the same time she touched the floor, still sitting like she was on the forest's snow.

There was no snow where she was, and the cold was suddenly replaced by warmth. She hesitated for a few seconds, ready to fight and run again if necessary, and opened her eyes.

She was inside a tiny place, a house. It was nicely warm in there, and somehow cozy, way different from the facility and the room/cell she slept in since she was a small child. There was a blue fishtank in a corner, and next to it a desk full of papers, quills and a typewriter; she could hear a nighttime announcer on the radio near her, talking about the music they would play that night in their show.

However, she tilted her head with curiosity - not about the fishes or the typewriter or the radio, but about the man sound asleep in the couch.

She carefully approached him, walking on her knees, not wanting him to wake up. That voice that called her for years in a whisper was so very clear now - and was coming from him. It was so clear he could have been speaking to her right now if he was not sleeping, his arms crossed against his chest. Now closer, she saw his eyes were moving fast underneath his lids.

She paused for a second and instinctively closed her own eyes, and as effortlessly as breathing she felt her mind traveling the space between them and submerge inside his dream.

There she saw the faded memory of a little girl with ribbons in her hair, looking at her very displeased. A voice chattered from a radio, a different and older voice and a different radio from before.

"Do we have to listen to this, Fox?"

When she looked down, her hands were the ones of a child and when she spoke, her voice was the one of a young boy.

"'The Magician' comes on at 9.", she said in the boy's voice.

"Mom and Dad said I could listen to the show, butt munch". The little girl looked extremely angry.

"They are next door at the Galbrands. They left me in charge". She answered back automatically in that voice that was not hers, and the little girl simply looked angrily at her.

She knew what was coming next. She quickly recoiled from that dream-memory that, she realized, was also hers.

She opened her eyes and looked down at the man, frowning softly in his sleep.

She knew why.

"Fox", she called softly, speaking for the first time since the last test she performed two nights previously. Her voice sounded unused, child-like, even though she was in her late twenties.

His frown grew deeper.

"Fox. Wake up.", she insisted

"What is it, Scully?", he muttered, eyes still closed and not fully awake.

"It is Samantha, Fox. I-I… I am here."

As if he was struck by lightning, his eyes flew open in surprise and shock, looking up at her as if she was a ghost – she pretty much looked like one. She heard his thoughts full of fear and retreated quickly, her sore feet aching against the rug.

He drew out his wand instantly and swiftly with the practice of an auror, even though she didn't know any of that yet.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get in?" She could hear him say, but she could hear everything he was thinking as well.

 _"No no no, not again"_

 _"Not another one"_

 _"I am so sick of this"_

Out of self-defense, she panicked for a couple of seconds, considering if she should attack him like she did to the people before, but something inside her stopped her right in time. She knew she could kill him in a snap of two fingers – the recent escape from the facility was still hammering against her mind.

But if that man was the owner of the voice calling her, and if that dream-memory he just had was also a memory of her own, if all of this was true, he was the only one that could help her. If all of it was the truth, he was her only brother.

She looked up at him and lifted her hands, showing she meant no harm.

"Please, I don't want to hurt you".

He snorted with disdain at the answer.

"Yeah yeah and I am Babbitty Rabbitty's Cackling Stump. Answer my question. Who – are – you?", he pointed the wand harder and stepped closer to her.

"It's me, Fox. S-Samantha. Your sister".

"Well, get in the line then. There was a bunch before you telling me the same thing."

"But it is me now. It is really me."

"Oh, is it? Prove it.", he sounded fed up with it in special, more than having his home broke in by some strange woman.

She looked up at him saddly. He was her only chance to escape - she knew she would have to hide from those people, forever. He was also her only chance to find out who she really was. She tried her best to remember something, anything.

"I don't have all night long. Prove it, or I will kill you right there. I am sick and tired of the Ministry's mindgames to affect me, always bringing me someone to play as my dead sister. I've had enough of this bullshit already."

Samantha closed her eyes, but didn't go for his memories of them this time.

She went down into her own memories, hidden in forgotten corners she didn't have access during all these years due to mind control. She did the same thing she did to him just now when he was asleep, except she did it to herself.

She recoiled inside her own remaining recollections, concentrating as much as she could.

After a few seconds she was able to see something in her mind's eye – the memory was worn-out and failed here and there like a very old photograph, but it was there: the sight of a beach on a clear, sunny day. She saw her own knees in front of her for she was sitting on the sand, with old wounds on them from falling on them constantly. She saw her own little, child hands in front of her, holding a sandwich, and a small Fox sitting by her side, also holding a sandwich in his hands, their brooms laid nearby as they were only sitting there, talking about something she could not understand.

It was the best she could do for now, though.

When she opened her eyes again, he was staring at her with a curious expression on him – there was suspicious and surprise on his face. And a small hint of fear.

"W…what the fuck was that?" – he asked, not even blinking as he stared at her in confusion. He lifted his wand a bit more. Seeing confusion on her expression as well, he added. "Your eyes… glowed under your lids. Just now. I've never seen anything like that. And trust me, I've seen some pretty weird shit in my life."

"I was remembering", she replied sincerely, still not fully understanding what really happened to her. "I remembered you and I on the beach near our house, when we were little… how we would always fly there on our brooms to play. We brought sandwiches with us, couldn't see what kind though…"

Mulder let his wand fall slowly.

The only person he ever told about those memories was Scully. He never mentioned it to anyone else, or wrote about it, nothing like that. However, he was still hesitant about this strange woman - she displayed some kind of power or magical disease he never heard of or read about anywhere.

Glowing pupils isn't something one can just do with the flick of a wand – and she had none on her.

She also said she was "remembering" - she could somehow be trespassing his Occlumency powers to see those memories of him and his sister together in the beach.

Occlumency was a skill that he and the other Aurors were absolutely required to have and use everyday and to be no less than outstanding at. His apartment was protected by a massive amount of spells, some of them not even known to the public and some were exclusive for members of the Ministry to use, and were very specific regarding who they let in.

On the other hand, the strange woman claiming to be Samantha didn't have wands on her, as he called them to him with nonverbal spells, and overall was not displaying an aggressive behaviour – she was sitting on the floor, probably because of her injured feet, and held her hands where he could see them.

It could all be part of her plan of course, but he was also good at finding those things out.

"Please, Fox… I don't want to hurt you. I-I need help"

He put his wand down, but still paying attention to any kind of suspicious behaviours.

"If you try anything, I have 26 ways and a half ways of blowing you up without saying a single word and that take me only 3 seconds to perform. Am I clear?" she nodded quietly. "Sit down there and tell me who are you, and what do you want from me."

He pointed at the couch on her side, and she did as he told. She haven't sat on a couch since she was a child, probably.

"They are after me. I… I escaped."

"From where?"

"I don't know"

He sighed, impatient.

"Who is after you, then?"

"The people from the Purity Control".

His eyes widened. She was not sure what that meant yet, but remembered the people talking sometimes, something about the "Purity Control", "the Project".

Now able to fully use her brain she was slowly remembering things she saw and experienced in the labs; and her eyes glowing as she used her power to remember, and seeing a little bit of Fox's memories and thoughts about her, she was able to recognize that they somehow meddled with her magic and how she uses it.

She was starting to understand something was not normal about it - about her.

"What do you mean….? How the Purity Control is involved in this?", he knew very little about it, but he knew they were involved in several abductions and tests he and Scully investigated. But they didn't know why exactly.

"It is all very strange and confuse to me yet… I-I am not sure what happened to me in there. The only things I can tell for sure is that they experimented on me, tested me. I was kept under control, all day, everyday, so I wouldn't run away from them."

"But you did run away."

Mulder still seemed skeptical about her being Samantha, but seemed to believe she has been tested – her overall appearence kind of helped on that. She seemed tall and was painfully, painfully thin, her skin so pale she was almost glowing. She looked translucent even, her gaunt face framed by a long, dark plait and sober, thick, deep red robes. Dark circles spread from under her blue eyes and besides the fresh wounds she had, thin lines scared across her face, neck, hands and feet. Apart from the wounds and some dirt on her feet and arms, she seemed to be clean.

She looked tired and as if recovering from a severe illness; she looked younger than she should be, underdevelopped but strangely aged at the same time. Seeing that woman, pale and thin, made him both feel sorry for her, and made very dark memories come back to him, of when Scully looked just like that.

He tossed away such thoughts. He absolutely hated to remember that.

"Yes… somehow I've escaped."

"What was different this time? If you were being mind-controlled, how did you escape that?"

She paused for a while, trying to find the words.

"I think I got used to it. After years, I started to learn it, what was keeping me from actually think. And learned how to dodge it, inside my head."

She was describing some things he'd learned along the years – reports of missing people claiming they were held captive, tested, controlled. An unavoidable control of their minds, until they were returned some time after that. They were mostly Muggles, Muggle-borns, half-bloods, and sometimes squibs – Scully was taken the previous year, they think exactly because she was a Muggle-born.

Blood status didn't matter to Mulder personally, but if that was really their pattern, why Samantha was taken? The Mulders were considered a "pure-blood" family (until Fox Mulder came in dwelling with Muggles, for his father's and grandparents' distaste, whose opinion didn't matter at all to him, anyway), and no Muggles in the family tree for generations. If she was really Samantha, that made no sense at all. And this woman didn't seem to know much about why she was captured in first place, either.

"There is history of captive people overcoming Imperius Curses over time. But that usually take from a couple of months to years, depending on the person. That's what probably happened to you… huh…hm, Sam."

It was probably rude to call someone a nickname when you are not really close to them. And he probably sounded cynical even though it wasn't his intention, but he was not ready to call her "Samantha". He didn't know if she was a Samantha at all, to begin with.

But he had to call her something, and she didn't seem to mind it, anyway. Mulder could be imagining things, but her serious face seemed to lighten up just a little bit when she heard him call her like that.

"So… How did you escape?"

She immediately frowned, not quite ready to go back to the facility, but she had to.

"I was being prepared for another test. They would take all of my blood out again to… do stuff with it."

She said nothing, but could hear him as he asked himself if that was even possible.

She lifted her sleeves up and showed scars on her arms – scars on top of other scars, where her main veins should be, where needles pierced through her skin for years, day after day.

He was good at hidding his true feelings, but she knew he was shocked. Sam had a grim expression on her and he had no reply for that.

"They had equipments and potions and other stuff to keep me alive meanwhile"

She rolled her sleeves down, clearly upset. Her mood had quickly changed and that didn't go unoticed by Mulder – he simply nodded in agreement, letting her go on with her story.

"It is not the only horrible thing they used to do to me. Anyway… They took my blood out to make experiments with it." And then she added, more certain of it by the minute "I think… to enhance it, to make it… better somehow?"

Suddenly it all made sense to Mulder. The last piece of the puzzle.

They were only taking Muggles and Muggle-related wizards and witches… to make a "better" wizard or witch. "Purity Control" suddenly made all the sense to him, and he felt nauseous – even though he considered that alternative before, it was too horrid to be truth, it couldn't be true.

Most of the abductees he has talked to that were the real deal or somehow connected to the Purity Control did not return with anything different in particular, except for a mark on their necks that can only be seen with special spells that he had developped himself for that specific end, for some of the returned had claimed they were marked there even though nothing could be seen in a first glance. That, and the fact Sneakoscopes would always go crazy around them – Scully hated it so much.

However, a few of them presented some curious characteristics – wizards and witches that were exclusive wand-users suddenly were able to cast smaller spells without it; Muggles and Squibs that had not even a drop of magic in them, being able to move or transfigure small objects.

Scully was actually included in that list – she was not an Animagus before the abduction but had to register herself as one after she was returned, as she soon found out she was able to turn herself into a golden eagle, all of a sudden. That, and a few other powers she was still finding out.

They always thought it was some kind of consequence of the abductions, a non-desired aftermath of the tests, and not the actual _expected result_ of them.

It made sense why this woman was so experimented and tested with, and explained why she had _glowing eyes_. On the moment she was remembering (or so she said) he could tell she was performing some kind of magic even though she had no wand on her – which is not impossible, but it is extremely rare, even more combined with her _glowing eyes_.

This piece of information was more revealing than anything else before it. He now knows their reasons and what they actually want to do. And it was all gruesome to the very core of it. Even if that woman was not Samantha Mulder, she would have to be protected under seven keys and all the Fidelius Charms he could give her.

"I knew I was aware of myself again.", she continued, after a long pause. "Slowly, I became aware I was being controlled by them, and tonight, something sparkled inside me. I just wanted them to leave me alone. I wanted to be left alone. I was tired of everything they did to me, all the pain. I wanted them dead. And… a-and some of them died, I think."

Mulder felt the cold hand of fear on his chest, realizing that if she wanted him dead, she would have done that a long time ago.

"All of them?"

"No, just the bunch that wanted to take me to the blood test. And some that were shooting me. I was able to run from them, I wanted them out of my way and they were knocked out. When I reached the outside, I ran into the forest and wished I was far away, and so it happened. I heard… voices… that told me I was in a forest in a place called Albania, it was snowy and cold so I wished for clothes and here they are".

She grabbed the front of her red, thick robe. She was barefoot nonetheless, probably forgetting to conjure shoes – someone in Albania would probably be finding out in that exact minute that their favorite red robe and pants had mysteriously disappeared.

"You were Apparating from one place to another." He explained. "And these voices you told me… What were they saying?", he knew this was a dangerous realm: hearing voices means you might be hearing ghosts, you could have been cursed, Legilimency, or… something else.

"They were talking stuff. Mundane stuff, mostly. 'have to stack the logs', 'I need to call Mike', 'I forgot my purse'. Some of them were really, really bad things… And… other things I wouldn't want to repeat…". Her blush was evident against her paleness, and Mulder knew it right away. "I think I was reading minds of people."

"Yes. That's called Legilimency. You were most likely reading the minds of people somewhere near the forest. That would mean your skill is of great power. I knew a boy that had such power, once."

He noticed she was getting more relaxed again, once the subject went away from the facility that was helding her hostage, to explanations of what was actually happening to her.

"Why did you come here, from all places you could have gone?", he asked.

"I heard you too. For years before the escape."

He tilted his head in curiousity, on the same way she did when she saw him asleep in the couch even though he had no way of knowing that yet.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard you call my name. Over and over. That's why I knew my name was Samantha when I was a teen, I don't know how old I was. I think it started when I began to learn how to dodge the controlling spells… They never called me by my name, they never called me anything at all. But sometimes… I heard you, and I knew it was me you were calling. Sometimes your voice would go away, but it always came back. It.. it was very comforting."

If that's true, he thought, her Legilimency skills are way more powerful than Gibson Praise's and boy, he is powerful. And if she was hearing him and not anyone way closer she could have been listening to, that could actually mean…

He shook the thought away.

"So… how did you get here?

"I… 'wished'… to go to the person behind that voice. When I opened my eyes, I was here."

Mulder stared at her, speechless.

"You simply… Apparated here?"

"I think so?"

"You can't simply just Apparate in here! It is…"he sighed "…well, it _should be_ impossible. This place is guarded with things not even the Ministry knows about…"

She simply shrugged softly, not knowing what to say. It wasn't often one would hear Fox Mulder say something is really impossible - but he was extremely worried about this woman wandering around. If she could Apparate in his appartment, she could probably do anything.

He tried to read her mind using his own Legilimency skills, but he somehow was not able to – her Occlumency was way stronger than his power, which kinda worried him as well. However, if all of what she said was true, and he could see some of it in the story, he needed to hide her immediately.

Specially if… if she was indeed Samantha, his place would be the first they would want to search her for. He stood up right away, looking down at her.

"Sam… I have to be honest with you and say I am still not convinced you are my sister. However, I do believe in your story, that you were locked away against your will, that you were tested, tortured. And I do believe you need help to hide, and I will do that. I need to get help to do that though, and I need you to trust them, too. Ok?", his voice sounded genuine and calm to her.

Sam just looked up towards him, not very satisfied about more people knowing her whereabouts, but she had no better choice and just nodded in affirmation.

Mulder drew out his wand again and pointed it towards his window - a luminous silver fox bursted out of its end, running free through the window's glass and into the night. She watched in awe the animal made of light disappearing in the darkness.

About fifteen minutes later, a very short woman with contradicting explosive red hair and piercing, glacial blue eyes Apparated in the middle of the room.

"I'm sorry for taking so long, I had to leave Kevin with my mother."

Sam looked at her, confused by the previous information that no one could Apparate in the appartment and yet, there the red-haired woman was; Sam looked at Mulder, her head tilted. Mulder understood the question in her eyes.

"Scully is the exception."

The woman Scully turned to look at Sam, at first with what seemed to her a hint of arrogance, but as soon as she realized how weak and ill-looking Sam was, how wounded her feet and hands were, she softened her expression to genuine concern for the girl. She looked at Mulder and formulated the question in her mind, letting him read it.

 _What happened to her? And who is she…?_

 _We should get going, it is not safe for her to stay here_., he answered her Legilimency back with his own. _Let's go to the boys, we will tell you everything when we get there, and maybe you can also take a look at her, she seems to be in a a pretty bad shape._

They turned back to Sam, she was staring at them, her head slightly tilted.

"Let's go. We are taking you to somewhere safe.", he said.

She tried to get on her feet but was unable to. Seeing the pain in her eyes, Scully drew her wand and soon Sam was standing, floating a couple of centimeters away from the floor. She smiled weakily in gratitude at her and held her hands together in front of her body, waiting.

The girl…- or woman? Her age seemed pretty ambiguous – was almost as tall as Mulder. And not only that… Scully noticed that they looked awfully similar now that they were side by side, even with the girl's pale, scarred skin and bony figure; they carried the same face shape, same nose, same lips. Even the same tiny, squinty eyes, except the woman's were blue and not soft green like Mulder's.

Mulder politely asked Sam for permission before he held her arm, as they prepared to Apparate to The Lone Wanderers' headquarters.

Scully frowned slightly as she realized who that could be, but said nothing. She would hear their explanations and wait for the turn of events.

She only wished that this time, that woman was who she actually claimed to be.


	2. The Lone Wanderers

**Author's Notes:  
** I revised and edited it as much as I could, but I am not a native English speaker,  
so if you see any mistakes regarding grammar and misuse of a word, please tell me so I can correct it!

I was also not really planing a chapter 2/more chapters, but the ideas kept coming and I thought it was worth a try!

* * *

She blinked at the sensation of once more being engulfed in darkness for a few seconds and for the third time that night, the enviroment changed right before her.

However, she didn't had time to process where she was for the moment she heard Mulder's and Scully's feet hit the ground softly, a cacophony of ear-piercing sounds started to chime nonstop, as if all the cuckoo clocks in the world decided to work at the exact same time.

She closed her eyes hard, bringing her hands to her ears and feeling like her mind was being flooded by the voices just like it did in the forest, driving her insane.

The sound was absolutely unbearable.

"Damnit!", Scully yelled through the wall of sound, clearly angry.

"Turn them off!", Sam heard Mulder scream at the same time as Scully, just a moment before the sound of a muffled explosion snapped and whatever was yelling abruptly ceased its cries with the noise of broken glass – lots of it.

After a few seconds of solid silence, Sam opened her eyes with the feeling she had returned to the same forest she had been an hour ago, but instead of the quiet winter forest, she found herself in a poorly lit room covered in dust and pieces of broken objects scattered all over the fallen shelves, desks and the spiral staircase on the corner.

Mulder, Scully and other three unknown men were sprawled on the ground, all of them with disheveled hair and covered in dust – one of them, a man with blond, long hair seemed like he had just rolled over one of the desks full of parchment paper and ink bottles that were all broken now, the ink staining his robes and arms.

Their eyes were all staring at her in shock. She felt her cheeks grow hot under their gaze, still very confused about the loud noises, but very aware she had caused the explosion. Their intense gaze and quick, scared thoughts also confirmed her own.

Without taking his eyes away from her, one of the men – the short one with glasses – pulled his wand out.

She tried to step back, uncertain, forgeting she was still levitating with Scully's spell.

"Reparo!", he said, and in the next moment all the debris and glass shards vanished and the room was clean, the destroyed objects putting themselves together again and going back to their shelves, probably in the same fashion they were displayed before she broke everything.

He didn't sound like he was going to attack her, but he was definitely uneasy and that made her very nervous.

As if sensing the tension Mulder stood up, beating the dust from his dark robes as he stepped in with a hand held up in a sign everything was ok.

"Put that thing down, Frohike. You are scaring her".

"Oh... I... I'm sorry." The man called Frohike seemed to realize only then he was still holding his wand up, taking his hazel eyes away from Sam for the first time to look at his own hand as he lowered it slowly.

At this point everyone was standing up, beating away the dust that was left behind from their own robes and capes. The blond man was pointing his wand to himself, cleaning the ink stains from his cloak and vest.

Scully looked at them, her eyes sparkling with anger but still managing to keep her voice down.

"I told you a million times to turn those _nightmares_ off before we came in, Jesus."

"We are very sorry, Miss Scully", the tallest of the three apologized with honesty. "We completely forgot to turn the Sneakoscopes off, Mulder's message arrived very suddenly. We were setting the protection spells to let the three of you in and reset themselves back after that.".

She sighed in frustration, but seemed to accept his apologies. He then turned his blue eyes at Sam.

"We are also sorry we frightened you, miss".

Instinctively, Sam scryed his mind to reassure herself he was not hiding any harmful intentions, but only superficially – if she tried to go deeper into it, her glowing pupils would give her away. On the top of his mind, his thoughts were as uneasy as everyone else's in that room, but he didn't seem to be hiding any ill intentions against her, directly.

She looked back at him and nodded without a word, a mix of uncertainty, fear and shyness crawling in her chest.

Once more Mulder stepped in, this time to break the ice slowly growing in the room.

"These are friends of mine: Byers, Frohike and Langly. 'The Lone Wanderers'." He introduced, pointing each one respectively. "I know they look all weird, but they are trustworthy. They can help hiding you. And Scully here, who you met before, she is an official Healer, she can help you with your wounds. She is also kind of weird, but she is nice."

Scully raised her brow at Mulder, a hint of amusement in her eyes. The Wanderers nodded in aknowledgement, as everyone decided in silence to leave the questions for later.

"And well, this is... hm, Sam.", he said, gesturing towards her. The men's eyes widened in surprise. Scully was not really surprised – she only got a confirmation of what she was suspecting since they left Mulder's apartment.

"Wait. You mean... _the '_ Sam'?", Langly asked.

"I am not sure yet. That's another reason why I brought her over. And well" he paused briefly, "apparently she will need protection, regardless."

Byers walked towards a high table nearby full of newspapers, quills, rolled pieces of parchment with notes in them and some strange objects that moved softly. He made a clear space, pushing everything to a corner, and gestured for the others to sit down.

Her wand held up, Scully conducted Sam to one of the high stools and helped her to sit on one of them.

"I will take a look at you and see what I can do to help you out with these for now. Is that alright?" She asked Sam as she pointed at her fresh wounds, the blood dry around them.

Sam felt very uncomfortable with the idea, but her hands and feet were hurting to the point of throbbing now that her adrenaline was low and her body was taking in all the stress she had put it into earlier.

It also helped that Scully - who was furious about all the noise just a few minutes before - had now a very gentle and reassuring tone to her speech, making Sam feel less distressed about the situation – "being examined" still sounded a lot like "being tested and controled".

"Yes... yes, it is ok" – she finally answered, speaking for the first time since they left Mulder's place.

The end of Scully's wand lit up in a soft light and she started to look at Sam. The wounds didn't seem too deep, but they were many. They also had dirt on them, indicating she probably ran over sharp rocks and stepped on fallen sticks.

Everyone else watched in silence as Scully examined her carefully, cleaning the wounds and conjuring white linen bandages on them with gentle waves of her wand.

She held Sam's face up very gently, her wand casting light once more, and examined her big blue eyes under the light, moving it left and right, watching her pupils follow her moves and contract under the exposure. After that, she made Sam turn her head to the sides, so she could see superficially inside her ears.

"Do you have any other wounds I can't see? Is it hurting somewhere else, under the touch or not?"

"Hm... my knees. I fell on them. And my arms, trying to get branches out of my way".

Scully made spiral movements with her wand and the knees of Sam's pants vanished, exposing not only her wounds, but a couple of old scars as well, marking her legs.

Scully took mental notes to ask about that later in a more careful look.

The wounds were just like the ones on her feet, not life threatening, but still looking ugly and painful. She found out she probably fell on her left knee on some sharp rock or edge, which led to a nasty looking tear on her skin that was still bleeding a little.

She murmured a couple of healing charms and was easily able to clean and sterilize everything up, closing the wound with a charm that stopped the bleeding and kept the edges of the torn skin close together until they healed - much easier than Muggle stitches.

With a flick of her wand, she conjured bandages around both her knees. Another spiraling movement and the pieces she removed from Sam's pants reapeared like they had never left.

Sam hesitated a little before she rolled up her sleeves, glancing at the men and at Scully, remembering Mulder's reaction when she showed her arms to him.

"It might be... a little upsetting.", Sam warned them with her child-like voice. She was able to hear them gasping softly when they saw her deeply scarred arms, crisscrossed with the thin cuts the tree branches gave her earlier.

Scully said nothing, but took mental notes about those as well as she cleaned the wounds and conjured bandages on her arms in a similar manner as before. Her hands also had a couple of superficial wounds, and were a little bit dirty as well, which were easy to take care of.

Scully then reached inside her cloak and pulled a very small bag that had the embroidered sign of a wand and a bone crossed on it in lime green against the black fabric of the bag. She opened it with her wand and pulled a little dark blue bottle and cup from it - both of them visibly bigger than the space inside the bag.

"Arnica extract." She told Sam, as she served two fingers of clear, golden potion in the tiny cup. "It is going to help you with your pain."

Slightly reluctant, she got the cup from Scully's hand and drank all of it. As expected, it tasted awful, but she was kind of used to the bitter taste of potions.

Scully put the bottle and the cup away but before she sealed the bag with an elegant gesture of her wand, she seemed to think for a second. She reopened it, taking out something wrapped in bright purple and golden paper.

"This is medicine for a different kind of maladie, but I think you need it anyway." She gave it to Sam, who picked it up with her hands wrapped in white bandages. "Please, have some."

Sam opened it, revealing a normal chocolate bar. She remembered it vaguely from her childhood memories with Mulder that were slowly returning to her, now that she re-opened that gate inside her mind.

She instinctively felt that already well-known urge of looking into someone's mind to see if they really meant it, to see if they had no ill intentions, but something stopped her from doing so this time.

She looked down at her hands again, wrapped and taken care of, holding the chocolate. She realized how hungry she was.

"Thank you." She murmured shyly and taking a small bite, as she looked up at Scully, who answered her with a subtle, but genuine smile. The chocolate tasted rich and creamy, the sweetness washing away the bitterness of the potion. She felt a bit better.

After a moment of silence, Frohike turned to Mulder.

"Ok, will you tell us what in the name of Kelvin, The Honorable is going on? What happened to her?!"

Mulder sighed at Frohike's tact with delicate situations, much alike to a dragon in a china store. But he answered his question anyway.

"I was sleeping back there in my place and woke up to her looking down at me. I was defensive, but since she showed no signs of being a threat, I talked to her; she said her... name is "Samantha", that she is my sister, and that experiments were performed on her during the last years. She claims she ran away from the facility she was in and Apparated inside my appartment"

The Wanderers and Scully stared grimly at him, and then at Sam.

"But that's impossible!", Byers said, a hint of fear on his voice. "No one can just _Apparate_ in your appartment like that... with exceptions." He added, indicating Scully with his head, now sitting by the table with the others since she had finished taking care of Sam.

"I know. And that's not just that. The information she gave me was very distressing", Mulder told them. He turned to his right to look at Sam, who was sitting a Scully away from him, and asked kindly. "Can you tell them what you told me earlier?"

Sam felt exhausted and just wanted to lay down and sleep, but she felt the urgency echoing in his mind very clearly.

She finished chewing a bite of the chocolate and told them everything, since the escape from the Purity Control, the way she understood she did it.

Everyone seemed very upset by the connection of the Purity Control in all of this, and how they were tempering with her blood, just like Mulder was shocked when she told him eariler. They also understood the reasons behind Mulder's urgency in hiding her, for if that happened to be true, everything they thought they knew about these experiments and abductions were only a small part of the big picture.

But no one said anything. They let Sam finish her story instead, leaving their thoughts for later.

She told them how she heard Mulder's voice inside her mind since she was a teen, how it helped her keep her sanity and how it, somehow, helped her break the cicle of mind control spells over the years.

She told them how she managed to Apparate to the Albanian forest, how she heard voices. How she conjured the clothes on her body, and how she Apparated to Mulder's place after that.

She paused, crumpling and folding the chocolate's paper in her hands, unsure if she should tell them about reaching out Mulder's dream-memory or not. She decided to skip that part, certain that if she told them, they would dismiss everything else as if she was only stealing memories from him and saying they were hers.

"I realized the voice I heard all this time was his when I got near him. It sounded like he was talking to me, as if he was awake. I woke him up, and he thought I was there to kill him at first but I didn't attack or did anything to hurt him... I-I didn't want to hurt him... I started to remember stuff, from before I was taken. The exact night I was taken actually, and some memories of my childhood with Fox."

"Yes. This one memory she described, it was real. I remember that. And I never told about it to anyone, except once when I briefly commented about it to Scully... However, I made it clear to Sam I am still not fully convinced she is my sister Samantha."

He glanced at her.

"But I _do believe_ in the part she was tested and locked up against her will. That's why I brought her here, what she told us matches everything we've been seeing around for years now, matches all the evidences we've got so far. And... well, all the scars, the wounds she has are also proof of it."

He paused for a moment and turned to Sam, looking in her eyes.

"I also think that if you really is my sister – and trust me, I want it so, so bad to be true -, we will be able to find out. The boys here have this place, where you can hide safely. And Scully can provide some... evidences that you are Samantha Mulder, the real one."

He avoided using the word "tests" – the still limited map he was able to draw of her based on his observations told him she was harmless and cooperative if she was not triggered or provoked.

He hoped it was also her true personality and not a made-up persona, like many times prior.

"Okay." She simply answered, a bit disappointed but not really upset about his suspicions. For what she was able to understand from his thoughts earlier, he had his reasons not to be so open and believe her right away. She was glad he at least believed in the experiments, and had accepted to help her.

She blinked heavily, letting a deep yawn escape.

"You need to rest." Scully said calmly, the Healer side kicking in immediately. "The night was really stressful for you, and you seem to be very weak still."

Frohike stood up.

"Come with me. Do you need me to levitate you again?"

Sam stood up, feeling her feet sting and hurt but not as badly as before. The potion was probably working. She tried to step forward slowly, but walking was still really painful.

She concentrated, and imagined herself floating just like Scully did to her before.

In just a couple of seconds she felt her feet leave the ground slowly, as she floated a small distance from it. She managed to move herself towards Frohike, who was waiting a few steps away, looking absolutely surprised just like everyone else in the room.

The others simply stared at each other, speechless.

"Huhh... Well, questions later, I guess", said Frohike, before taking the first stairway step.

He took her upstairs, as she floated silently behind him. That floor was a lot bigger than the one below, with a couple of doors. The floor was all made of dark wood, and everything looked old and seemed like it needed to be painted, but it wasn't that bad.

As a matter of fact, nothing would ever look as bad as the place she ran away from.

Frohike opened one of dark doors on his right, revealing a room of medium size, full of books and old newspapers in many boxes, and some broken artifacts covering a dusty, old-looking bed.

"This is kind of a spare room. Mulder slept here a couple of times back in the day. That door right there is a bathroom, if you need it.", he told her as he flicked and spun his wand, all the boxes and artifacts moving to the floor, gathering and piling themselves up against the corner; a second and a wave of wand later, the bed had clean bedsheets and a blanket on, and a change of clean clothes folded on it. He waved his wand a last time and a steaming mug also showed up on the nightstand.

"It makes me sleep better, you know. The warm milk. Maybe it will work with you too.", he said casually. "Well, good night then. Make yourself at home. I will close the door but I won't lock it, don't worry."

Sam looked at him leave the room. She didn't hear any thoughts from him that upset her, he sounded like he was really trying to help.

"Thank you.", she said, before he closed the door completely.

He opened the door a little, enough for her to see his face.

"You are welcome", he smiled and before he left, closing the door behind him.

She changed her clothes – the new set he gave her were some royal blue pajamas that were many sizes bigger than her, mostly because she was so thin. They were probably Langly's or Byers's since they were the only ones as tall as she was in the Wanderers' group.

She sat on the bed and realized she was still holding tight in her hand the folded purple and golden wrapping paper. She placed it on the nightstand by the mug.

Taking Frohike's tip in consideration, she drank the milk before she laid down in that old bed, falling into a deep, very needed sleep almost immediately, the exhaustion and weakeness finally taking its toll on her.

They looked at Frohike as he came downstairs, all of them kind of leaning forward on the table as if they had been talking in a low voice tone.

"It is ok, we can talk normally", he said, joining them again. "I didn't lock the room because I didn't want to freak her out, but I set an alarm around the room, if she leaves it we will know. There is also some silence spells around the room, so she won't hear us even if she tries. What for Merlin's sake you've got into your hands this time, heh Mulder?"

"She literally just exploded this room and levitated around like she was Jean Grey or _something_. Like it was no big deal?", Langly said, still not quite believing what he saw. "And was it only me, or her eyes kind of _glowed_ _as well_ when she did that?"

"Levitated like _who?",_ Frohike asked.

"It is a long story", Scully said, being the only other Muggle-Born on the table to actually get the reference. "Anyway. That girl... woman, she is extremely dangerous. And I'm not sure if she is just not fully aware of this yet, if she is genuinely trying to control herself not to harm anyone, or if she is just _pretending_ to be harmless. I mean, she exploded this room in a matter of seconds. I can't say I was sad about the Sneakoscopes, though."

"I pointed a wand at her and threatened to kill her at least twice when she got in my apartment. She clearly can kill if she wants to, she could have killed me at any time, but she didn't. And her story seems to be true, most of it at least. I mean, have you seen how bad she looked? And I am not even talking about the scars and the fresh wounds. She seems like she had been ill for the last ten years." He paused. "Quite... like you when you were returned, Scully."

She sighed, actually remembering how she looked like when she stared herself in the mirror for the first time after she returned. She can't blame him for sounding terrified everytime he mentioned that.

"Yes, but she could also be hiding information from us" Byers added. "Her story matches with evidence we had chance to get so far, but still. We have to be _extremely_ cautious around her."

"Specially if the whole Purity Control thing is true", Langly said, shivering. " _'Making a better wizard'_ , by the beard of Zeus. If _that_ is true, it is way worse than we thought."

A curtain of silence fell between them, the terrible meaning of all of that hitting them hard. At the same time, they were secretly wanting it all to be a mistake, or merely a misinterpretation Sam had about the experiments.

"I agree with you Byers" Mulder said, breaking the silence. "Specially because Sam didn't comment on the other bizarre thing she did back in my place – you were right Langly, her eyes _did_ glow when she levitated now. She told she remembered this thing about us, right? A memory from our childhood. When she said she was 'remembering', she closed her eyes and a second later I saw they were glowing under her eyelids, brighter than now. She seemed to be using magic, even though she had no wands on her, I made sure to search for them. Scully, please tell me you have some absurd but solid explanation for that, because I've never seen anything like it in my entire life."

They all turned to Scully, looking as confused and frightened as Mulder.

"Well, that somehow explains why her pupils looked so strange. When I examined her, I noticed they had a weird silver reflection deep inside them, like a cat's eye but not as bright. It was only visible when I looked very closely with the light on. And answering your question Mulder, no, I've never even heard of any spell or magical condition that causes that, except maybe if you drink Potion Polijuice with an animal's hair in it. In that case, we would know that for a tail and dense facial hair would be really hard to miss. She could have been somehow accessing your memories with this strange magic she has, even more with her claim of being able to hear you from far away, and the people's thoughts in the Albanian forest..."

She paused, uncertain.

"What is it?", he asked, tilting his head a bit.

"If she was really able to hear you calling her, Mulder, and I am considering that because from all people, she Apparated right in your place, that _may count_ as an evidence that she can have some kind of connection with you. However, I am by no means claiming it is really Samantha by that alone, not without substantial evidence."

"That is something only your tests will be able to tell. I trust you to do this for me."

"What kind of tests do you have in mind, Miss Scully?", Byers inquired.

"Well," she started, leaning against the stool's back rest, crossing her arms on her chest. "Considering everything I've learned about her so far, we need to know what she is capable of doing. I want to see what she can and can't do, make her use her magic and study how she does it. I want to see how far she can go into someone's memories, if she can really do that, and if the glowing eyes have something to do with it, which apparently is the case. I want to examine her closer, and also those horrible scars. She had more of them on her legs, as well. And I will try to take a blood sample from her to test it at St Mungus, to see if they really did something to temper with it as she said, and also to send some of it away to be tested with Muggle technology. My childhood friend Sean works in a Muggle lab, I can ask him to do this, as a favor."

"Sean? Sean Pendrell?" Mulder smiled, amused. "If I remember him well, he would probably fight a Dementor with his bare hands if you asked him to, Scully."

"I want to see if this woman is really the sister of our lovely Mulder here," she said, ingoring his last comment. "and DNA is a good way to know that. And if there is something weird about her blood, there is a possibility they will be able to see that as well. God, sometimes I do have to agree that the magical side is obnouxiously outdated."

"DNA?", Frohike asked.

Scully sighed, confirming what she had just said. They really needed to change some things on the magical side's educational system.

"It's like a code we all have in our blood and cells. Everyone has it and everyone's DNA is unique, but people from the same family have some traces in common", she explained. "If the girl usptairs is really Samantha, her DNA will have traces in common with Mulder's. By the way, Mulder, I will need a sample from you too."

"Only if you hold my hand, Scully. I am afraid of needles."

This time she quietly looked at him, not because she wanted to ignore him but out of silent concern. She could feel that behind his usual jokes, he was trying to cover up how the arrival of this strange woman had affected him more than he wanted to admit.

 _It is okay, Mulder. We will find out the truth in this, you will see.,_ she reassured him, writing the words on the shore of her mind in that way only Mulder could read.

 _I hope so, Scully. I really hope so.,_ he answered back in the same manner.

It was always so fast and they did it so much along the years that no one really noticed it anymore when they simply glanced at each other like that.

Communication via Legilimency was quicker than using actual spoken words, and it was really useful and safer when they wanted to share impressions they didn't want anyone else to know.

It also had its personal uses, like they just had done.

It had started by accident years before in a dangerous situation, and hey naturally stuck to this habit until it became more like a second nature to them, the closer they got with the years.

The Ministry didn't encourage such uses of Legilimency, but they did it anway. Scully was all about sticking to the rules now that she was older, but a small part of her punk teen years never really abandoned her, though she would never admit it out loud.

And Mulder, he was never one who followed the rules, anyway.

"Just be careful. With the tests I mean." Mulder added on the last minute, forgeting for a second the Wanderers were not listening to their last bit of conversation. "If she feels like she is going to be tested 'the Purity Control way', the biggest part of your body we will find is going to fit comfortably in a match box. You heard her saying she actually killed guards back there, and how that... magical field _thing_ exploded from her when we got here. Maybe it is better if we cover your back as you do the tests on her."

"That's probably the safe thing to do", added Byers, agreeing with Mulder.

"Could be. But I don't think she would feel good about all of you behind her, ready to explode her in case she explodes _me_." Scully said, concerned. "Maybe I can talk to her and explain everything beforehand, so she won't feel like we are leaving her in the dark."

"Alright, then." Mulder sighed. "We can try that. She seems to be fine when we explain things to her. But if she turns out to be unstable or unreliable if we mention these tests, we will have no choice but actually do something about it".

Scully was fully aware he was being all cautious because he was afraid something bad would happen to her _again,_ over finding out the truth.

"I will try to talk to her and explain what we are doing. If anything looks off to me, I will make it known and we can take a more aggressive approach as a safety measure."

"Well", said Frohike, stretching and looking at the golden clock up on the opposite wall. "in either case, it is 4:30. Will you two stay over to help keep an eye on the girl?"

He drew his wand and conjured some mugs and a teapot of strong, steaming tea to help keep them up.

"I will.", offered Mulder. "We need to watch her out carefully and be prepared if something goes wrong while she is here, at least on the following days. Up to now, she presented herself as someone that is not dangerous unless she feels threatened. We will have to make sure she feels safe, and that we just want to help her."

"Seems like we will have to avoid loud noises as well", Byers said. "The Sneakoscopes distressed her a lot."

"They distress anyone", added Scully as she poured some tea for herself, still really bitter about the incident earlier.

"What about you, Scully?", Mulder inquired, looking at her. He knew she now had Kevin waiting for her at home, and didn't want to keep her away longer than necessary. His gesture was followed by the Wanderers, as they turned to her as well.

"I can stay too, but only until 6.", she answered.

"It is good enough, I guess.", said Langly.

He pulled a mug to himself and drew out his wand, summoning a pile of Muggle comics that was sitting next to what looked like a TV screen. "This is gonna be a long night. And you, do yourself a favor and learn something that really matters."

Langly pulled a couple of issues from the pile and threw them at Frohike, who was sitting a Byers away at his right. He pulled an issue of _Static Shock_ to himself while Frohike picked the issues thrown at him and sighed, bored.

"You and your weird comics that don't move." He mumbled, opening the _X-Men_ issue and reading it anyway, out of anything better to do.

They sat there for five minutes in silence, the only sounds echoing in the room being the tick of the clock on the wall and the soft buzz of the Secrecy Sensors lined carefully on a shelf above, and sometimes the sound of a mug being placed back on the table.

Bored and sleepy, Scully slowly reached out to the pile and grabbed one of the _X-Men_ issues.

The others followed her shortly after that, for the exact same reasons.

"Oh." Said Frohike at one point, when he reached the middle of the edition he was reading. "I get what you said, now."


	3. Nightmare

**Author's Notes:**  
I am sorry I took so long to update - I ended up writing a very long chapter 3 and later deciding to actually split it into chapts. 3 and 4.  
But because of that, I promise the next update will be coming up in a few days and will have some extra pages!

* * *

"Come on. Do we have to listen to this, Fox?", she asked almost in a plea. All that political nosense was making her sleepy and it wasn't even 8:30 yet.

"'The Magician' comes on at 9", her brother answered plainly.

"Mom and Dad said I could listen to the show, butt munch", she replied, annoyed.

Before they left, she had asked her parents if she could listen to "Duels of a Desert Witch", that would start at 9:15 - they usually didn't let her stay up past her bedtime at 9 but as she insisted a lot, they came to the conclusion that Samantha going to bed late just once wouldn't kill anyone, and they ended up giving her permission.

"They are next door at the Galbrand's. They left me in charge"

She simply stared at him, annoyed.

Having Fox in charge was always _so boring_ because he liked to listen to the most yawn-inducing shows ever, at least in her opinion. Sometimes their parents would let her be in charge and she loved it - Fox could not go against that and she could listen to whatever she wanted to.

Suddenly, a blindingly white light coming from the windows illuminated the room and the entire house started to vibrate beneath them.

She looked at her brother, confused and scared. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Samantha saw Fox's scared face before he ran to a shelf and used a stool nearby to reach it. He knocked a heavy wooden box over, where their parents kept the wand of their deceased grandmother. But she had no time to see what happened next for she felt her body go limp almost as if it was melting, and felt it move against her will. The little girl could feel herself leaving the room's floor slowly and floating away towards the window. She could only stare at the ceiling and be absolutely terrified, feeling her blood running fast in her veins through her racing heart and past the scream of terror trapped in her throat.

She felt warm tears run silently down the sides of her face as she was carried into the unbearable light.

The muffled noise of an explosion filled her ears and her eyes flew open as she sat up straight so fast she immediately felt extremely dizzy. She let her body fall back on the bed.

Her heart was still painfully drumming against her chest and she felt a familiar sensation of something running down the side of her face - this time because she was sweating profusely and not because she was crying. She lifted a very shaky hand up to her warm forehead so she could wipe a bit of the sweat away.

Her breath was shallow and quick, the panic poisoning her lungs. Her sight was blurred and she lost track of time before her eyes started to focus a bit.

She saw a familiar white ceiling. But it had a crack that had never been there before.

She blinked several times, trying to make her eyes work properly again. She turned her head to the left, and saw boxes, books, newspapers and objects scattered all over a room that was not hers. Her eyes got the glimpse of something shiny on the floor close to the window and she saw black and white shards of something broken and a purple and golden wrapping paper thrown nearby.

The memories of last night peeked through the dense wall of panic in her brain. Slowly remembering where she was, the relief spreaded inside her chest as she was finally able to breathe in and out slower.

She covered her eyes with an arm, protecting them from the lights still on - she didn't want to turn them off last night - she was always kept in constant darkness except when they took her out to eat or for one of their hideous tests. A shiver ran down her body under her last thought and she tried to brush it away from her mind with all of her might.

She laid there for a couple of minutes and was able to calm herself a little bit before hearing a soft knock on the door.

"Damnit", said Langly, as the computer steamed for the millionth time, approximately.

"You should give up that stupid idea, it is not gonna work", Frohike said without taking his eyes from the table where he was almost done replicating the latest issue of _The Lone Wanderers_ with the repetitive gesture of his wand.

"It is because of such medieval mindset like yours Muggle technology was never able to fully blend in into the wizarding world", Langly replied, annoyed. "I've already made some progress and I feel I am close now. You will see. _Reparo_!

The computer stopped fuming and was back to its previous good shape - also for the millionth time – and he went back to work.

The house they were in had an electric circuit Langly installed himself, but for obvious reasons it was never used except when he wanted to test his hacking experiments in Muggle objects. He had tried everything, but he noticed that imbuing the electronic parts with spells and potions to make them more resistent seemed like the right way to follow. It worked with blenders and fans he had tested with, but they were much less complex than a computer or a TV. Maybe he should concentrate the strengthening magic and even add some others he might find.

When he was about to summon a book from his other desk across the room _("Making Your Things Durable: The Manual of the Clumsy Wizard, vol I"_ by Midas McCallister) to research what else he could use for that and at the same time considering if he should get the other volumes of the collection, the sound of an explosion upstairs shook the entire house, making their dark magic / secret detectors shake violently on their shelves.

Frohike and Langly stood up immediately, the tension rising like someone had broke a pipe and the room was now flooding quickly with it. They stared at each other.

Frohike quickly took a small journal from his pocket and opened it on the table. He tapped it with his wand.

"Good news, she is awake. Bad news, she exploded her room. You should come ASAP.", he told the journal and the words were immediately written on the blank parchment page in brown ink by an invisible hand. He tapped it again and the ink disappeared.

"They should be here in a moment", he said after that, as Langly was already bringing down the Apparition blocking spells to let people in within the next minutes.

A few minutes later, Mulder and Byers appeared in the middle of the room.

"Close the house, Scully will come only later. She will go home first.", Mulder said, and Frohike did it right away.

"Is everything alright?", asked Byers, who was sporting the formal robes typical of someone who works at the Department for the Communication Regulations. "Are you two ok?"

"We are fine.", Frohike started. "It was only upstairs, and apparently she didn't move outside her room."

"We decided to call you before going to check on her, just in case.", Langly added.

Mulder moved towards the staircase.

"Maybe I should go in, since she claims to be or believes to be my sister. You guys can stay put outside if something goes wrong."

They nodded and followed Mulder upstairs.

Frohike undid the alarm and silence spells from the night before – they would redo them whenever she went to bed or stayed in the room, for her own protection and theirs. Mulder came closer to the door and knocked it.

"Sam? Are you in there?", he asked her, making sure to sound as gentle as possible.

"Yes", she replied, after a couple of tense seconds.

Mulder and the Wanderers breathed in deeply in relief that she didn't sound angry and didn't sound like she was in an attacking mode. But she sounded strange nonetheless, and that worried them.

"Can I go in?"

A moment of silence.

"Yes."

He opened the door slowly and saw her sitting on the bed, her back leaning on the bedframe and with her arms around her legs, pressed against her chest. However, he noticed the room was indeed kind of messy but didn't look like it had just been blowed up.

"The boys heard some noise, they were worried about you. They are just there outside, by the way. Are you alright?"

He sat at the end of the bed, in a distance she wouldn't feel uncomfortable with but close enough to make his concern evident.

"Yes, I just had some... bad dreams. The... the explosion was before I was really awake. I fixed everything after that.", she quickly added, as if she was afraid of being punished for the explosion.

"You fixed it?"

"Yes. Like he did yesterday.", she answered, pointing at the door with her eyes. "Frohike, right?"

"Oh. Yes. And yes, it was Frohike who fixed the room yesterday. You did a good job, I was actually asking myself if the noise the boys heard was really an explosion as they said it was."

Mulder took notes to himself to tell Scully that Sam had learned another spell through observation. He didn't ask about her dreams though, for she didn't seem like talking about that at all and he didn't want to distress her even more.

"By the way, you slept for nearly 16 hours straight, I hope you were able to fully rest."

"Apart from how I woke up, it was good, yes.", she answered, still holding her legs against her chest, and still tense but not as much as when they had started to talk.

"And how are your hands, your feet? Are they hurting?", he asked gently.

"Oh... no. They are fine.", she looked down to one of her hands, carefully wrapped in white linen bandages. "They are not hurting since Miss Scully took care of them."

"She has some heavy hands on her, Scully, but she is really good at healing", Mulder said with a smile, trying to break a little bit more of Sam's tension. She returned with a shy, tiny smile and agreed with a nodd.

"Are you hungry?", he knew he had made the right question when she turned her eyes up to him quickly.

"Yes, very."

He drew out his wand and pointed it at the nightstand - where before was only an empty mug (Frohike and his milk before bed, probably – he thought), a plate with bread, scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, some cookies and a tall glass of milk showed up.

She was starving.

Sam picked the plate up and using her pillow as a support, she started to eat with the spoon that was resting inside it.

Even though she remembered the food from The Purity Control being satisfying, it was very tasteless - unlike this food. She coughed a little after the first bite because the seasoning was so different and stronger from what she was used to. But she was still very hungry so she kept on eating.

In fact, after a couple of bites, she started to frown over how familiar it actually tasted.

"Is anything wrong with the food?", asked Mulder.

"This... I remember eating this before...", she frowned deeply, as if making great effort to remember. "... when I was little. We both did. Isn't it?"

Mulder smiled, more out of sadness than happiness.

Under the threat of her being an actualy Legiliment, he was shutting his mind as hard as he could since he had started talking to her through the door. But he was also doing it because he didn't want her to see (if she haven't already) his memories of one of his and his sister's most recurrent breakfasts that consisted in exactly what he had just conjured for her to eat. He wanted to see if she would remember something, anything about it.

It seemed to work as she claimed to remember it, but he wasn't sure he could believe her and he realized right there how pointless that was. He had to remember himself that Scully still had to perform her tests to fully confirm if Sam was or not Samantha, and he had to remember that really hard.

"It is just a very common kind of breakfast. Even though it is almost 8pm.", his finally replied, his soft smile still deceiving what he was really feeling.

Sam looked at him, sensing something was strange and she instinctively scryed his mind for an answer. Surprisingly, she was not being able to see the thoughts on the shallow part of his mind, where it was very easy for her to access so far.

"I see." She replied, unconvinced.

She understood he was probably closing his mind even harder because of her, she was not that clueless. They were being kind, but were still hesitating around her and what she might do for she had harmed people and Apparated in places no one was supposed to. She understood why they were so scared around her but that still upset her for she wastrying to be as honest with them as she could.

She ate one more cookie, thoughtful. She would somehow prove she was Samantha. She wasn't sure how yet, but she would.

When she had finished eating and drinking her milk as well, she placed the dishes back to the nightstand. Mulder pointed at it once more and the dishes disappeared.

"Better now, I suppose?"

"Yes, a lot better."

He felt her tone and atitude were bit dry. Maybe she got the hint he was testing her and didn't like it at all, making him see even more how that was really not the smartest decision.

"Well, I will let you be. You can come downstairs with us if you want, you are free to come and go inside the house. Just do not go outside, it can be dangerous. This place is hidden and protected, but still. Do not take unecessary risks."

"Okay.", she aknowledged, looking at him as he stood up.

"Scully will be here in a couple of hours, so we can see what she can do about you, and what evidences she will be able to gather regarding your identity."

Sam hoped that would be enough to prove she was who she said she was – even for herself. Sometimes she felt like everything she thought she remembered was indeed a lie and she was not who she thought she was.

She decided to stay in the room. She was very used to be by herself and didn't feel very comfortable with just standing donwstairs with them.

"Alright, I will be waiting here then. Just tell me when she arrives."

Around 10pm, the golden eagle Patronus crossed the wall and spoke with Scully's voice she was on her way and that they should open the house. After two years, it was still weird to Mulder to see that huge bird of light flying in whenever she wanted to send him a message through her Patronus.

It used to be a Pomeranian dog since she was fourteen, when she was able to cast it for the first time after studying by herself, but since her abduction it had changed its small but fierce form of a dog to the big and formal shape of a golden eagle, just like the Animagus form she was also able to assume since then. They had no idea why that had happened to her – until Sam came over last night, bringing a story that could explain it.

The Wanderers shut down the blocking spells and soon Dana Scully Apparated in the room, her black robes and red hair flowing around her.

"You are late to the party, Scully." Mulder said, sitting on an armchair nearby, looking very bored and the collar of his dark green Auror uniform unbuttoned.

"Sorry I've been missing all the fun", she replied with sarcasm, but the hint of amusement in her voice, characteristic of her answers to Mulder's provocations, still present. "I now have a 10 year old son in case you don't remember"

"How is the kid?", Frohike asked. "you should bring him over again sometime, he loved the tracking maps."

"He is doing fine. Going to Muggle school, eating well. No signs of wounds in his hands for months.", she answered, leaving her coat on the hanger next to the door that was never opened. "And I won't bring him over until...", she lowered her voice and pointed upstairs with her eyes. "well, until we know it is safe to."

"Seems fair.", said Langly.

"And well, safe", added Byers, with the same low voice tone.

"She is indeed upstairs, right?", Scully asked.

"Yes", said Mulder, finally standing up after shaking a leg with anticipation for around two hours while waiting for her. "She decided to wait for you upstairs."

"Did you tell her...?", she started to ask in a low voice, but Mulder answered with the same tone before she could finish.

"Oh, no. Just the same thing as yesterday, that you would somehow provide evidences and such."

"Alright. Let's do this, then. I will talk to her and let's see how she is going to react", she said.

"I will go with you.", Mulder said. "Just in case."

They took the staircase, and while they walked up towards the room Mulder filled her in through Legilimency about everything that had happened after Sam exploded the place and he got there. As expected, Scully slightly scolded him for trying to test Sam out like that with the breakfast.

Soon she was closing her mind tighter under Mulder's instructions and knocking at the door softly.

"It is me, Scully. Mulder's here too."

"Come in.", she answered right away.

They came in and found her just laying down in bed. She was once more wearing the black pants and red robes she was wearing the night before, instead of the pajamas from earlier - they were folded on top of one of the boxes at the corner.

 _We should get her more clothes, Mulder.,_ commented Scully.

Sam looked at them with a bored face very similar to the one Mulder had just two minutes before, and that made Scully shiver a little.

"Hello, Samantha.", Scully greeted.

"Please, call me Sam.", she quickly replied, as she sat on the bed. Scully was so short, or Sam and the bed were so tall, or both, she barely had to look up to actually look at the Healer's face. "I know Fox doesn't like it when I am called 'Samantha'."

That was partially true - she knew Mulder wasn't completely sure of her identity and not yet accepting the idea she could finally be the sister he has been looking for since he was a kid and that this journey could finally be heading towards its end. But the truth was also the fact he started to call her "Sam" very spontaneously and she secretly admitted to herself she liked how it, being called by a name by someone.

"Oh. Alright, I am sorry.", Scully apologized. Sam couldn't read her mind as well, probably for the same reasons she still couldn't read Mulder's, but she could overall feel her intentions and she was being honest in her apology. Mulder just looked at her in silence.

"Well, Sam. As Mulder told you yesterday, I am a Healer. Which means I can heal but also investigate some other things about you – your identity as Samantha Mulder, or not, included. And I can't lie to you we've noticed your magic is very... atipical. We need to look further into that as well, to learn what you can do, how you do it, and even why. Maybe we can find a way to help you control some aspects of your powers – for what we've seen and what you've told us yesterday I understand you have some issues with that, is that right?"

"Yes.", she lowered her head, feeling embarassed about the destruction she had caused. "I don't know why it happens, it just happens. I just..."

"Yes?", asked Scully, tilting her head a little to see Sam's face.

"I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I did it back when I ran from the Purity Control, but I didn't mean to."

"You were in a life-or-death situation, Sam. It is understandable why you would react with violence, you wanted to run away from that place and you acted in self-defense."

Sam looked up at her again, a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Yes, but I don't want to kill anyone again. I _really_ don't."

Mulder and Scully stared at each other briefly in concern, but soon she turned back to Sam.

"We will find a way to help you with that. So far I've noticed you learn spells out of necessity or by witnessing them being performed – you have learned how to Apparate because you needeed to run away and hide; you learned how to levitate yourself and repair objects after you saw Frohike and I performing such spells. You are a fast learner and I can see you find your own solutions to get to a certain result. I am certain you can learn how to control and contain certain powers of yours like everyone else does, only in a different way."

"What do you mean by 'like everyone else'", Sam inquired.

Scully seemed to think for a minute, as if deciding what to say.

"I was born into a Muggle family. At first we all thought magic was not real, like all Muggles.", she started, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. "But when I was little, my older brother used to snatch my favorite toy from me and hold it out of my reach to tease me. More than once, I watched it being ripped from his grip by some kind of invisible hand and come back to me. It happened so much he stopped doing it at some point. When I learned later I was a witch, everything made perfect sense on why I did all those things: I was doing it out of necessity or because I really wanted something. I went to a wizarding school and I was taught how to improve my magic and perform it correctly. What I mean with all of it Sam, is that like me as a child you can't control this specific part of your magic. But with some formal education, I believe you will be able to control it, and probably faster by the way you learn new spells, and because you are not a child, like I was back then."

"You really think so?", Sam's face seemed to lit up a bit under the perspective of being able to control these destructive powers she had, and that insisted to do things she didn't want to.

"Of course. We can try that, if you are willing to.", she replied.

"I am, yes."

"Good", Scully smiled a little. She then prepared to touch the delicate subject she knew it was. "There is another thing I need to talk to you about, Sam. In order to know what happened to you, if you have any health issues, and to possibly learn about your identity, I will have to perform some tests..."

Because Sam's eyes were so blue, both Scully and Mulder were able to clearly see her pupils dilate almost instantly with fear.

"N-no more tests, please.", she cut, absolutely terrified.

Scully thought quickly. She kneeled in front of Sam, her velvet robes making a black, round puddle around her. Looking up into her eyes she took one of Sam's wrapped hands between hers gently.

"Listen, Sam. These tests I mean to perform on you are _nothing_ like the ones from the Purity Control. Nothing like it _at all_. I can explain in detail what I will do beforehand and _I promise_ , they will be harmless and non-invasive; I will definitely need a sample of your blood as well, but I will only need a few drops. That's all."

Scully spoke with a gentle, understanding voice accostumed with such talks, specially with small children. The present circunstances were way different from a child scared by Healers, but the approach was pretty much the same. Even though she overflowed with powerful and often dangerous magic, Sam had very child-like behaviours in some aspects - which could confirm her story of being abducted at a very young age.

However, at the same time even though she was adopting a behaviour she would use towards children or teenagers, Scully was very aware Sam everything but one.

Sam closed her fingers in tight fists, and shut her eyes just as hard. She was breathing slightly quicker than a minute before and she seemed stiff with tension. She thought of all the tests she had to endure for years, every minute coming back to her more and more detailed now that her brain was able to work properly on its own.

"No one is ever going to hurt you again, Sam.", she heard Mulder tell her softly. "We promise you that. That's why you are here, and that's also why we need these tests to be done – we don't know how your health is going. We need to know if the Purity Control also affected you in that way."

"Yes." Added Scully, still holding her hand in hers. "Exactly. And we can't and won't do this if you don't want us to. But it is something that needs to be done and we would not be asking you this if it wasn't of great importance."

At the same time she thought of the Purity Control and its unspeakable crimes against her, Sam also thought of her breakfast with Mulder earlier; of how he and everyone else were still so skeptical about her identity and afraid of her, and of her own life as a no-one. She thought of herself as a child in her own memories, with a name and a family, happy. As nauseous and scared she felt about more tests being performed, she also wanted more than anything to restore all of what had been stolen from her.

Scully felt Sam's hand shaking a lot between hers and looked up at Mulder, who looked back at her with the same worried, sad face. The question if this was all a huge mistake and they were only tormenting the poor woman being silently asked between them with no need of their Legilimency skills.

With the corner of their eyes, they saw a movement and they looked back at Sam. She was looking back at them, shaking. Tears that were beyond her control, just like her offensive-defensive magic powers, gathered in her eyes.

"I-I want to to this", she simply answered, her tight fist opening and taking Scully's hand in hers. Scully held it back instinctively. "I want to do this, for myself. Specially because this is what the Purity Control would hate to be done. Isn't it..?.", she looked at Mulder, the gathering tears in her eyes trailing down her face when she moved it upwards. "They would hate if people knew who I am... And what I am. They wanted me to be a nobody, a secret. I refuse to keep being one. I... I want to know what happened to me, I want to know who I am..."

Mulder approached carefully and tenderly placed a hand over her bony shoulder, a soft smile on his lips. Sam could clearly feel his reassuring intent, even without being able to see what he was thinking.

"I am happy you want to fight back, Sam. I really am. We will find out more about you, all of us. We promise you that."


	4. Ganymede Revelaria

After Sam managed to calm down, she agreed on starting right away. Scully prepared the room - the bed was made slightly taller, the boxes were piled up in the small bathroom behind the dark door next to the nightstand and the lights were made brigher.

She also took everything she would need from her Healer's pouch by summoning them to her free hand and placing them on the nightstand – there was something looking like a Muggle camera, except it was deep red in color and it had very big lens, as if to photograph from a great distance; some green gloves made of thin cotton; something that looked like a pistol with a small parabolic antenna attached to it; a small book with black pages and a white cover, and a huge quill that was also white; Muggle syringes still sealed in the package; a small pack of cotton balls and a thick elastic ribbon.

Scully briefly showed Sam all of these things as she was taking them from the pouch. The fact that all of them except the syringe wouldn't even touch her reassured Sam a bit more, even though her heart was still racy.

Mulder was watching from the corner of the room in silence, following Scully's moves and watching Sam's reactions. He would stay in through most of it, although Sam seemed cooperative. He was equal parts of curious and impacient to know the results, even being fully aware Scully would still have to take the evidences back home and study them before coming to a conclusion of what they would tell her. The blood sample would also have to be sent away to be tested both with magic and Muggle technology.

When everything was set, Scully got the red camera in her hands.

"Are you okay to start?"

"Yes. Yes, I am.", Sam answered, her voice a bit shaky, but determined to go on.

"Let's start, then. Can you please stand next to that wall?"

Sam stood up and walked to the white wall next to the window where Scully had pointed at, and turned around to face her again.

"Like this?"

"Yes, that's good. Just keep your arms a little bit away from your body and stand still. I will take some photographs of you with this, and they will let me see your internal organs and bones when I develop them properly.", she fully explained like she was in a classroom full of students, teaching them about Healer's methods. "If there is anything physically wrong, I will be able to see it."

"Okay.", Sam replied, a bit nervous even thought she knew there was no reason to be aprehensive.

Scully photographed her front side and made her turn around to take photos of both of her sides and her back.

"One test down.", she said, putting the camera back on the nightstand.

"That was all?", Sam asked, not really able to hide a hint of relief in her voice.

"With this one, yes. For the next one I need you to lay down.", she pointed at the bed and got the strange parabolic-like white pistol with her left hand. With her free hand, she opened the little book and placed the quill on one of its black pages, where it stood up on its tip by itself.

Sam did as she was told, feeling a bit more confident about the situation after the first test but still feeling her hands sweating a lot under the bandages. After Sam was set, Scully went on and explained what she was about to do.

"This is a Malady Detector. I will be able to get a brief description of any health problems you might have, and if organs are not working properly. I wish I was able to bring one that would give me a detailed list, but those are too big and are only available at St Mungus hospital. However, I think I will be able to get what I need with this one."

She turned the portable Detector on with her wand, and as she slowly moved it left and right over Sam's body, the white quill started to write quickly over the black paper. After it filled a couple of pages, the Detector made a low bell-like sound and the quill stood still again.

"It is done.", Scully announced, laying the quill aside and closing the small book. She placed the Detector next to them and picked up the camera again. "Please sit up, Sam. And look at me."

Sam sat up, letting her legs rest against the side of the now tall bed, and looked at Scully as she drew her wand out again and conjured a soft light from its tip, bringing it in front of Sam's eyes and letting it go, where it floated by itself. The wand kept its place a couple of centimeters away from Sam's face and now with both of her hands free, Scully lifted the camera again and took a picture of her face.

"Your eyes had this glow in them when you levitated yourself last night. And when I examined you like this before, I was able to see this silver reflection in your pupils. I am registering it, and I want to see if the pictures will show something else in your anathomy that may be causing this."

"Ok.", Sam replied, standing very still under the wand's soft light. She appreciated the fact they were explaining everything in details beforehand, she was tired of secrets and being left out of everything that was done to her so far.

"Thank you.", she said, retrieving her wand and laying the camera back down.

She then put on the magically sealed gloves and picked the pack of syringes, taking one of them out and opening its individual package.

Sam looked at the glass syringe in Scully's gloved hand and felt her heart start to drum involuntarily against her ribs once more. Her pupils dilated with the prospect of having her blood taken again, even if in a small amount.

"I am aware this might be a upsetting, but I promise it is not going to hurt, and it is going to be very quick.", she told with the usual gentle voice tone she used in similar situations. "You may lay down if you feel like it."

Sam didn't think twice and silently laid down again. She felt a little dizzy as the familiar panic started to form in her chest. But she didn't want to quit now they were in the middle of it.

" _Dor Minima_ ", Scully whispered, pointing her wand at Sam's arm and performing an anesthesic spell of temporary effect. That was usually just used for big open wounds, limbs burnt by potions gone wrong or exploding cauldrons or other extreme pain conditions but she thought this would be very necessary in Sam's case.

"Can you pull your sleeve up, please?"

Trying to distract herself from her heart painfully pounding under her ribcage, Sam did as she was told and revealed her deeply scarred arm. Scully used the ribbon as a tourniquet on Sam's upper arm but was still not able to see her veins. A non-verbally cast See-Through Veins charm and a second later a soft light marked the main veins of Sam's arm, as if she had liquid light running through them. With the syringe prepared, Scully came closer and carefully inserted the needle, holding it tightly against Sam's skin with her free hand's thumb.

When the blood started to flow into the syringe, the Healer had to do her best to keep her hands steady and try not to look astonished, for Sam's blood had a deep, dark green color to it.

She had never seen anything like that in all her years as a Healer, or studying Muggle Medicine or even working as an Unspeakable with Mulder – and she had seen plenty of strange things. She tried to keep her own expression as neutral as possible, not to alarm Sam or her partner, who was still watching them from the corner of the room with curiosity. She gave a step sideways, shielding the syringe from Mulder with her own body under the excuse she needed to get closer.

"Can you hold this here, Sam?", she told her, as she pulled the needle carefully with the help of a cotton ball to keep her skin in place. Sam glanced down, her vision parcially blurred, and used her fingers to hold the cotton against her arm – she wouldn't admit that out loud, but she was more than relieved it was over even though it didn't hurt at all just like Scully had promised her.

Scully placed a cap over the needle and touched the glass syringe with her wand to seal the container and keep the blood inside fresh, putting it away in her Healer's pouch as quick as she could. She would take her own conclusions after it was tested, but she was worried how she would explain that to her friend Sean - he was aware she was a witch since she received the letter when they both were kids, but telling him to test green blood was an entirely different story.

"Another one down, Sam.", she said, trying to reassure the other woman a bit at the same time she wanted to hide her own concern over the strange blood. "You are doing great so far. How are you feeling?"

"A bit dizzy, but I am fine, I think.", she answered.

"Alright. Just take your time."

They've waited patiently until Sam was able to sit up again. She felt her vision was focusing and her heart was slowing down more by the minute now that the whole blood test was done.

She sat on the edge of the bed still holding the cotton in place. With her hands now free, Scully asked Sam to take her hand away and pointed her wand to her scarred arm - a small purple bandage appeared a second later. She asked Sam for the cotton ball she was still holding to put it away with a wave of her wand as well before anyone else could see the green drops of blood it had absorbed.

"We are almost done. Mulder will leave the room now, and I will take a look at you. I promise it is going to be quick as well, I only need to know if there are any external issues going on. Is that okay to you?"

It was not like Sam really had a choice. On the other hand, even if she was not very excited about the idea, the worst test had already been done in her opinion.

"Yes.", she simply answered.

"I will be waiting outside", Mulder said and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Scully waited as Sam undressed and laid down again under her instructions. With spiral movements of her wand, she unwrapped all the linen bandages as well so she could see how her wounds were going since the previous night.

The first things she noticed was how pale Sam was, and the scars that covered her entire body that were very evident against it. The thick scars trailed up and down her arms and for the first time now that she was looking at them closely, Scully noticed they had a weird pattern to them, like a web of blood veins.

There were some more on her legs which she had seen before while taking care of Sam's knees, but they were really faint and smaller compared to the scars on her arms. Looking closely at her face, and now aware of the weird pattern, Scully was able to notice how her thin and almost invisible scars there also had the same vein-like ways.

Seeing that, an idea started to take shape in Scully's mind.

Based on the previous test, she casted a stronger See-Through Veins charm and watched how the light trailed underneath the other woman's skin, showing her where the veins were but simultaneously traced each and every scar from under the skin.

The Healer would take notes of that information later, already formulating a theory that would explain such an odd characteristic.

She went on with the examining and it was very clear how painfully thin and underdevelopped Sam was, now that she was not wearing her large red coat.

"Do you remember if they fed you properly in there?", Scully inquired.

Sam answered after a minute or so of thought.

"Well... They didn't starve me, I remember eating often. They also gave me water regularly and this... weird-tasting potion to drink before meals. I don't know what was that for."

Scully seemed to be thinking really hard.

"Do you remember feeling pain?"

"Yes. Right after the... the tests. My head felt like it was about to explode and there was pain all over my body. And my arms would burn like they were on fire. I couldn't do much about it, just lay down there and wait for sleep to come."

Her hands started to sweat only by the memories of it. Sam focused on her answers and her breathing, anything not to panic again.

"Alright. Thank you, Sam.", Scully said, sensing her distress. She wasn't able to ask much, but she also took mental notes of the few answers she was able to get.

She then paid attention to Sam's fresh wounds. They looked a lot better with the treatment they had received, and they would probably be fully healed in a day. She didn't conjure the bandages back for they wouldn't be necessary anymore.

"Can you sit up, please? Hold your head low, like so.", Scully instructed. "And hold your hair away from your neck."

Sam did as she was told and held her hair back by her long braid.

"I will check out if you have this Mark, usually linked to the Purity Control."

"Okay", Sam just answered, holding her position with her head low.

" _Ganymede Revelaria_ ", Scully said, moving her wand on the shape of two sides of a triangle turned up and pointing it at Sam's neck.

She thanked God that Sam was turned away from her, otherwise she would be able to see the mix of surprise and disbelief immediately show up on the Scully's face. She contained a gasp at the very last second.

She immediately concentrated and felt Mulder's mind on the other side of the wall. Without eye contact, she was only able to reach him a couple of meters away if she focused hard enough.

 _Her Abductee Mark has a pattern of seven dots, Mulder._ , she told him, unable to leave such information for later.

 _What? That can't be...,_ he replied her with urgency, for that was both extraordinary and very disturbing. However, after a moment he added: _that does explains a lot about her._

 _Yes... yes, it really does.,_ she answered, before breaking the link and turning back to Sam, before the other woman grew suspicious of her silence. She got the camera again, took a photo of the Mark on Sam's neck and put the camera back on the nightstand.

" _Ganymede Velaria"_ , she finally said, making the opposite wand movement and spell to hide the glowing dots under Sam's skin. She decided not to tell the full story, for now. "The Mark is here, as we were expecting. It only proves the Purity Control also has a conection to all the people we've met before that were in a situation like yours."

"There were others like me?", Sam asked, turning her head to look at Scully with eyes full of surprise.

"Well... not _quite like you_. But we've met some people that were taken against their will, and also have the Abductee Mark on their necks." Scully also decided not to tell about her own abduction and Mark. Not yet. "But there are some similarities with your story and the story these people told us."

"I see...", Sam replied, thoughtful.

"You can dress yourself again". Scully said, as she didn't see anything on her back either, except more scars. "You did very well, Sam. Thank you for trusting Mulder and I for this."

Sam was putting her coat on again, as she replied.

"You and Fox helped me a lot so far, and... well, I had to do this."

Sam thought that saying she also didn't have much of a choice would not be very wise, even more considering her current circunstances. But she wasn't lying either about how grateful she was for their help so far.

"I am glad you decided to do it. We are aware it must have been difficult for you, but It is going to pay off when I have the results in hands.", Scully said.

"I hope so.", Sam answered, now fully dressed again.

"How are you feeling?"

"Right now? I am okay. Just a little tired, that's all."

"Do you feel you can make the magic tests tonight?", Scully asked, and then looked at her watch. "It is 11:15, but I still have a couple of hours"

Sam just shrugged.

"I don't see why not.", she was okay with most of the tests so far, and she felt nothing would be worse or more draining to her than the blood test. "If we can do all these tests as quick as possible, I am fine with it.". she said, not wanting to extend this longer than it was necessary. If she could make the results of all of this come faster, she definitely would do it.

"Alright", Scully answered. "If you feel like stopping, you can tell us at any time."

"Okay."

"I will call Mulder in so we can start it."

* * *

Both Mulder and Scully prepared the room this time. She returned all of her instruments into her pouch while he transfigured the bed into a table and conjured three chairs.

They sat facing Sam on the other side of the table, where she was instructed to sit down.

"What you will do now Sam, is showing us what you can do, and how you do it.", Mulder explained. "We are all aware you are capable of some really impressive stuff, we just need to know the extent of these powers. Is that alright?"

"Yes."

Since she wasn't sure herself where the limit of her habilities was, Sam was actually slightly curious about the next tests. As Scully had told her, most of the magic she had performed so far were based only in what the moment had required of her and she wondered what else she could perform.

"Alright, Sam." Scully said, placing a quill standing on a large, green-covered journal on the table. It started to write on its own right away. "You said you were able to Apparate. Please show us how you did it – can you Apparate to that corner right there?"

Scully was aware that if Sam's story was accurate, she had Apparated countries away. She wanted to start easy and see how the other woman would react.

Sam stood up and looked at the corner pointed at her. She imagined herself standing there, and a second and a snap later, she was staring at Mulder and Scully sitting by the table from that exact corner she had focused on a moment before. She Apparated back next to the table, sitting down again.

"Good", said Scully in a neutral voice. Her quill took notes for her in a quick, nonstop motion.

From the inside of her robes, the Auror took another journal, a small one that looked exactly like the one Frohike used to message them hours earlier. She opened it and tore a page away, kneading it into a small parchment ball.

"Can you fix this page, Sam?", she asked, wanting to see another spell she knew Sam had seen and used before.

The pale woman looked at the little paper ball and thought of the word Frohike said when he fixed the room after the explosion ( _"Reparo!")_ , and the paper spreaded open, quickly attaching itself back to the journal as intact as if nothing had happened to it.

Scully picked it up once again in her hand.

"Good.", she repeated, examining her tiny notebook closely. Mulder could almost see the gears in Scully's brain working heavily to solve this puzzle that was Sam and her strange magic.

"Please, Levitate again." Scully didn't really ask this time, knowing it would be an easy test.

Sam's eyes glowed softly – both Mulder and Scully wondered if the glowing eyes were a measure for the level of magic she was performing (the brighter, the more power it was being required from Sam), or if they were a side effect that would fade away if she used her magic a lot.

"Can you Levitate me, the same way I did to you yesterday?", Scully asked. Mulder thought that using herself as a subject under such circunstances could be a little dangerous, but he said nothing. He knew that Scully was doing this for a reason.

Sam looked at Scully and without closing her eyes, she was able to make the Healer slowly float away from her chair. Scully held her position in the air as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening and because Sam's eyes were open this time, they were able to see her pupils illuminating from inside out like two luminous beacons.

Silently, Sam placed Scully back to her chair, guiding her down with the movements of her eyes. She was focusing hard to control the motion since she didn't want to accidentally hurt Scully - or to hurt anyone else ever again, for that matter. She felt her eyes warm with the effort and concentration.

"Thank you. Do you think you can Transfigure this...", Scully waved her wand and a Galeon was resting on the table right in front of Sam. "...into something else? A button, for example?"

Sam hadn't turned anything into something else yet, but she had just seen Mulder turn the bed into that very table they were using. She closed her eyes and imagined the golden coin was actually a golden button. She felt a brief warm sensation under her lids. When she opened them again, the golden button she had imagined laid right before her.

Sensing what they would ask her, she turned the button into a Galeon again with a second blink of her eyes. With another wave of her wand, the Galeon disappeared back into Scully's pocket.

"Can you bring that black book from the second shelf right there to this table?"

Sam looked up at where Scully had pointed and saw the book. She closed her eyes, remembering when Scully had just summoned her things from the Healer's pouch, and focused on the object she was asking her for. In a second, she heard the loud sound of the book hitting the table and sliding a little bit over it.

Maybe she focused a bit too much.

"Turn it into a box made of dark wood.", Scully said, being intentionally specific.

The image of her nightmare came instantly to Sam, where a boy Fox Mulder knocked a similar wooden box to the floor under the vain hope of helping his little sister. A shiver ran down her spine under that memory.

It took some time for her to be able to focus on the black covered book and twist it into a box just like Scully had described. The Special Aurors noticed she took more time to solve this spell, but she was able to turn the book into a box, and back into a book again.

"Was this Transfiguration harder for you to perform?", asked Mulder.

"No. I was not focusing enough at first, that's all.", she answered with the parcial truth.

"Just let us know if you want to stop.", said Scully once more.

Sam answered with a nod as Scully returned the book to its shelf.

"All of these spells and charms I've asked you to perform, I know you've seen them being performed somehow before.", Scully continued. "Would you be able to produce light, like I did with my wand earlier?"

Sam didn't require wands to use her magic as it was evident since they saw her for the first time the night before, but she wondered herself how she would produce light without one and thought for a moment.

She looked down at her own hands for a second and placed them side by side on the table, her palms facing up. Her eyes instinctively closed and she felt the now familiar warm sensation tickling them. She noticed a soft light glow coming through her lids.

When she opened her eyes again, a sphere of light a little bigger than a marble was floating a few centimeters over her palms. Looking up at Mulder, who was curving forward on his chair, and at Scully, who was sitting back with her arms and legs crossed, she saw they couldn't really hide their surprise.

"Can you move your hand around with it?", asked Mulder, still looking at the light.

They watched as Sam moved her hand up and sideways, the sphere of light following it like it was attached to her with invisible strings. She closed her hand and the light vanished.

Scully's quill seemed to be twice as fast over her green journal's pages.

"That was really impressive, Sam", Scully admitted. Mulder nodded lightly in agreement, sitting back on his chair as the amazed expression still lingered on his features.

Unused with this kind of attention, Sam felt her face warming up a little.

"Back to Transfiguration", Scully continued. "Do you think you can Transfigure something bigger? Let's say, this table?"

"I don't know. But I can try."

Mulder reached over Scully to pick her journal up, and then both of them stood up pulling their chairs back, making space around the table. Sam followed their gesture. Mulder held the journal open in his hands, as the quill still moved around, taking its notes.

"Can you turn this table into an armchair?"

Sam thought of one of Mulder's armchairs she had seen the night before at his place. It took a few seconds, but there it was.

"Turn it back into your bed", Scully instructed, before Sam had time to turn it back into a table.

Sam did as she was told, her eyes glowing again and this time a little faster than the previous try.

"Turn it into a table again, but a table for eight people, made of red wood with golden details over it", Scully asked.

Sam was taken aback by the amount of details specified, and she knew she didn't have any memories of a table fitting that description that she could use as a reference. She spent a lot of time thinking of how she could solve that, walking around the bed. She tried to imagine a table like that, but her mental images were always too vague and her attempts didn't work at all.

She decided to try a different approach this time, focusing hard on the words.

 _Red wooden table_ , she thought, watching the words move inside her mind like fishes in a tank.

 _Red wooden table for eight, golden details._

Mulder and Scully watched as Sam's eyes glowed very brightly in a silver light underneath her eyelids. They knew right away she was doing something different.

The bed before them flickered once or twice, almost as if it was uncertain of its shape. A moment later, and a red wooden table for eight people, decorated with golden arabesques laid between Sam and them, barely fitting the room.

What really astonished them this time was the outcome's precision, which would probably make Professor McGonnagal leap with joy if they were all back in Hogwarts: the table had all of its parts, it was the exact size it was required to be and the exact colors it was supposed to have.

If Sam's story was true, she never had the chance of having any kind of formal education to be able to transfigure something larger than the coin or the book from before. She probably didn't have the chance of seeing such kind of table – Mulder knew it very well Scully had described a table that was passed down to Mrs Scully after her grandmother had died. While the table Sam had Transfigured was nothing like the one Scully's mother had inherited, it was still very pretty and functional nonetheless and that counted a lot when one Transfigures an object in the dark like that.

However, Mulder was decided to be careful this time and not take any chances of being deceived again.

 _She might be lying about her formal training or just be seeing your memories of the table, Scully.,_ he carefully thought without looking at his partner, not wanting to draw any suspicions. _That was impressive, but we have to have that in mind._

 _You are right, Mulder.,_ she answered back, a hint of concern imbued in her words. _I think the fact she is a Type 7 abductee might be playing its part as well, but let's see where she can go if she really is a Legiliment._

"That was very good.", said the Healer, Transfiguring the huge table back into the simple, small one they have been using so far. She sat down once more, gesturing for Sam to do the same. She was followed by Mulder, who placed the book and the writing quill back on the table before he sat down.

"For what we are doing next, you have to be as honest as possible with us, Sam.", Scully started.

"Exactly. We suspect you might be having access to everyone's minds somehow through Legilimency.", completed Mulder. "You told us yesterday about hearing people's voices in the forest that were clearly their daily life thoughts. While that hability wouldn't go against the evident connection you have with the Purity Control and the kind of experiments they perform, that would mean you might not be who you claim you are. You might have accessed my memories by mistake and used them to sound more convincing as Samantha so we would help you out. But even if you really did that, please understand we will still help you and hide you. You can't just go away, the Purity Control would find you in a matter of seconds. Don't be afraid to tell us the truth."

"We want to be as honest with you as we can, Sam.", added Scully. "And we need your help as well to find out what is going on. So I will go straight to the point and ask you: can you actually access people's minds?"

Sam felt the pressure of their question like a dangerous omen over her head.

Yes, she was able to access their minds, and was able to read Mulder's dream – the catalyst element to unlock her childhood memories prior to the experiments. But if she told them that, they would probably disregard everything else she had told them about her so far.

However, she could not lie for they already knew about the voices in the Albanian forest, and they would probably not believe her anyway if she denied her habilities. The fact she was unable to read the thoughts on the outskirts of their minds all this time was only an evidence they were being extremely cautious about that and were very suspicious of her.

Sam sighed deeply.

"Yes, I can.", she finally admitted.

"And how do you do it?", Mulder asked.

"I usually just hear the thoughts whispering to me when I pay attention. Deeper thoughts require more focus and effort.", she answered, based on what she had done back at Mulder's apartment.

"Can you read our minds at this very moment?", inquired Scully.

"No. You are protecting them. I might be able to if I focus harder, but you would know that." She vaguely pointed at her eyes' direction with her hand.

"Did you access my memories of my sister?", Mulder asked. Sam felt that what she answered now would maybe change everything from now on.

"Only when we met for the first time yesterday, when you were asleep. I saw you were dreaming of my abduction.", she admitted. She watched as Mulder stood up slowly after her answer, a defeated attitude in his movements as he walked around the room. She quickly added. "That was the only time I did it."

"And when I asked you for evidences that you were my sister? I am pretty sure you used your Legilimency again, your eyes glowed."

"I used it on myself.", she felt the frustration slowly creeping through her. "I realized I could just do on myself what I had done on you. My memories were all blocked up to that moment, and I was able to access it for the first time since I've started to regain my own conscience. I swear I am being honest with you."

"How will I ever be able to believe in that?", his voice had a normal tone to it, but it was visible he was making effort to keep his own frustration under control.

Scully looked up at him from her chair.

 _Calm down, Mulder. If she feels threatened, she might be dangerous._

Under Scully's cautious words, he took a deep breath.

"How can we know you were not accessing my memories and claiming as yours?", Mulder inquired.

"I... I don't know. I didn't read the memory of us at the beach, I was able to remember it by myself. I swear", she was on the verge of tears with frustration and anger. She had no idea how else she would be able to convince them she was telling the truth.

Scully, who was silent so far, moved on her chair as her thoughts raced in her head and searched for a solution.

"Maybe... we can try something.", she said, hesitating for a moment. "I want you to try reading my mind, Sam."

 _Scully, don't do this.,_ Mulder intervened immediately.

 _She can't see more of your memories, that would only make it even harder to know what she is reading from you and what she is actually remembering. I will be fine, Mulder. Trust me._

He just sighed deeply for the second time.

If Scully wanted to follow her instincts and test something out on her own ways, she would do it no matter what he said against it - which ironicaly was also a complain she usually had about him and his own questionable investigation ways.

On the other hand, she had never really failed him when she followed her own lines of thought.

"I will focus on a memory.", she starterd. "I want you to use your Legiliment skills and tell me what memory is that."

Sam sighed deeply and nodded in agreement. She still seemed a bit distressed over the discussion that had been on the verge of happening just a minute before, but she was willing to try what Scully had suggested. Anything to prove that she was telling the truth.

She closed her eyes concentrated.

She was actually able to feel the minds of both Mulder and Scully, warm and bright before her, and even the minds of the other men downstairs but she focused very hard on Scully's dense web of thoughts. Sam's eyes burned with the light she felt coming from them, and she poured her own mind into the Healer's.

The shores of Scully's mind were desert. No sound or movements in there. She pushed her conscience forward into the shallow layers and soon dived deeply into the other woman's mind.

Everything was as empty and silent as before.

She lost the track of time.

Suddenly, she heard something coming from her side (was it left or right?) and she turned around to face the sound.

In her mind's eye she saw she was in a kitchen with white walls and wooden cupboards. The sunlight was being filtered by the windows and the trees outside, and it would look like a very peaceful afternoon if it wasn't what sounded like children's voices discussing.

In front of her, a brown-haired boy held a stuffed rabbit high in his hand. She could see the boy was older than she was and he was laughing, but his laugh was not a pleasant one for her.

"It is mine, Bill! Give Samson back!", she yelled with the voice of a very young child. She felt her eyes burn with tears of frustration.

"Come here and get it, Shorty", he answered with a mean laugh, waving the bunny in and out of her reach to tease her even more.

"I will tell Mum!", Sam answered with that voice of a five year old girl, only to see the older boy mocking her.

She stomped the ground in anger and the toy in the boy's hand escaped from his grip, coming straight back to her open arms – surprised, he turned around to look up at his empty hand and she took advantage of his distraction to kick his shin and run outside towards the backyard, holding her bunny very tightly.

Everything dissolved into blackness.

She felt herself being dragged all the way up back to the shore and being forced out of Scully's head, seeing glimpses of other of her memories Sam couldn't really understand or get their full context – a strange set of black shiny corridors; a red-haired boy smiling kindly at her; the bandaged up hands of a child in hers; her own hands polishing a bright golden cup with a name written on it; the distorted face of a man looking down at her with a smile that gave her chills; Mulder when he was a teen.

She breathed in heavily when she opened her eyes, blinking several times as if she had to get used to the bright light in the room. Her eyes were still warm from the magic she had just used.

Mulder was sitting down again and was looking at her and then at Scully with a hint of concern in his eyes. The Healer seemed perfectly fine, even though she had actually made the biggest mental effort to keep Sam away from her other personal memories wandering in her head. However, she was aware Sam was actually able to see some of them on her way out.

Scully repositioned herself on her chair.

"What was the memory you've seen?"

"It was... what you told me earlier.", Sam hesitated, trying to organize her own thoughts. "Your brother taking your toy away, and you taking it back with magic."

"And what else?"

"That's all."

"There was more in the memory that I didn't mention before when I was telling you about it."

Sam thought for a moment before realizing what the red-haired woman meant with it.

"Your brother's name is Bill. The toy, it was a stuffed rabbit, a blue one. I believe you called it Samson. In the end, you kicked your brother's shin and ran. You were both in a kitchen and after you kicked him, you ran outside."

Mulder almost smiled at the image of a tiny (-er) Scully kicking her brother who was three years older than her because he was making her cry. Always a nice reminder of why he had liked her since the first time they've met, many years before.

He returned his attention to the women and watched closely to see what Scully was trying to tell with that test, when she turned to face him.

"Sam was correct. She is some kind of Legiliment and can access our memories if she wants to. She has the power to do so, and she also has the power to reach the deepest layers of thoughts even if we use Occlumency to shut her out the hardest we can."

Then, Scully turned back to look at Sam – the Healer's gaze was so serious and intense she felt a little intimidated.

"However, Sam, I must warn you that we are able to tell if you do so – we can see through your glowing eyes you are using a powerful skill, and I was actually able to feel you inside my head, watching my memories. We take Legilimency very seriously and prying into one's mind is not something we will allow you to do while you are here."

"I... I just do it. I panic and it just happens...", Sam confessed, trying to explain herself. "But... I've heard you two doing it before we came here yesterday...? I couldn't really understand what you were saying, but I could clearly tell you were seeing each other's thoughts."

It was almost as if she had just told them they forgot to put their pants on before leaving home - she was not really expecting to see them immediately glance at each other and then look at her with the most embarrassed expression on their faces. She was pretty sure Mulder even blushed a little.

"That is... different.", said Scully, avoiding eye contact for a second, looking like she was taken aback for the very first time since they met the night before, her previous intimidating gaze instantly gone. "We have each other's _permission_ for that."

"And we only use this recourse in specific moments.", explained Mulder. "Look... we understand you might not have full control of this hability for now as well, we really do. But believe me when I say that simply looking into people's minds as you please is something you _can't_ and _shouldn't_ do. It is just not right."

His words were adamant, although he still looked extremely embarrassed due to that very intimate detail about him and his partner being mentioned out loud like it was no big deal.

On the other hand, he was relieved about the whole mind-reading subject now that Scully was able to prove they would actually know if Sam was using such power. He didn't remember feeling anything out of the ordinary or feeling like his mind was being looked at when she used her powers in front of him, back at his apartment.

He would have to remind himself to keep his Occlumency up full time from now on, nonetheless. He would later tell the Wanderers to do the same thing.

That meant Sam was probably telling the truth, and the thought made his heart skip a little over the idea she could be who she claimed she was after all. Sam thought for a minute, absorbing what they had just told her.

"Alright. I will watch out for that. I promise.", she then turned to Mulder. "Do you believe me now, that I was actually remembering for myself?"

"I would rather not jump into any conclusions yet, I want to wait for the results of the previous tests. ", he said.

She had admitted she had looked into his mind when he was asleep, and maybe she was able to see more than just the abduction dream. He wanted to be as cautious as possible this time, he was sure he would not be able to bare to once more be hopeful only to find out it was all a lie.

She didn't answer him, only sighing in frustration.

Meanwhile, Scully was suddenly caught inside her own thoughts, as if she was just realizing something. After a moment, she looked up at Sam.

"Can you assume the form of an animal, Sam?"

She answered the question with a sideways tilt of her head like she always did when she was confused.

"Some wizards and witches can assume the form of an animal, after years and years of study and practice. We call them 'Animagi". There were some... evidences that some of the abductees were able to do it even though they weren't capable of that prior to the experiments."

"It is a spell you haven't seen being performed before, so that would be able to tell us about your skills, specially your Transfiguration habilities.", added Mulder, silently understanding and agreeing with Scully's decision of keeping her abduction a secret for now.

"I don't know how I could do that. What animal should I turn into?", Sam inquired, realizing she didn't have any vivid memories of animals on her.

"Just try. It generally just happens.", instructed Scully, who was actually speaking from experience.

Sam closed her eyes once more and focused on what they had asked her, doing the same thing she did when she had to Transfigure the table.

 _Assume the form of an animal._ , she thought.

 _Assume the form of an animal._

 _Any form._

After a couple of minutes of concentration, the Special Aurors witnessed in awe and with wide eyes as Sam's image glitched for a second and then started to change forms so fast they could barely follow them - she started as a white fox, changing to a tabby cat, then a weasel, a dalmatian dog, a blue-grey rabbit, a manthis, a huge maned wolf, a macaw with red, blue and yellow feathers, a brown moth the size of Mulder's arm, a salmon that squirmed heavily on the table for a second, a badger, a tiger. All her shapes had the silver light blazing in their eyes.

Sam changed forms and sizes at least twenty times as if she was deciding what animal she would settle with, until she apparently stuck with the form of a red Belgian hare.

She jumped from her seat to the floor, went towards Scully and then hopped around Mulder's chair. She then returned to her own chair with a clumsy skip, where she assumed her human shape again. The only sound they could hear was the scratching sound of Scully's quill furiously taking its notes.

When her human form was settled, Sam immediately held her head between her hands.

"Are you okay?", asked Mulder, leaning closer to the table in concern.

"Yes, just a little dizzy. I am fine."

Sam looked up again. Searching for any other odd signs regarding Sam's health, Scully found none. She probably used a large amount of magic at once, and since her brain played a huge part at it, it was very likely it was overloaded.

"Let's stop.", said Scully. "We are pretty much done for now, anyway."

She didn't want to test any offensive spells yet - both because the place where they were was not the ideal and because she wanted to spare Sam, not wanting to distress her in that way for a while.

Noticing Mulder was silent and thoughtful by her side, Scully looked at him and saw he was the one now with a weird expression on his face, caught in his own thoughts.

 _What is it, Mulder?_

 _I am thinking of what we have just witnessed and that she is a Type 7 Abductee... I've just had a very strange idea._

 _That's not a surprise, coming from you._

 _I really mean it._

"Sam...? Do you think you can assume my physical appearence? Or Scully's?

Both Sam and Scully were definitely not expecting that question.

"What? No!... I think...", Sam hesitated. "I-I don't know, actually."

"Can you try, please?", Mulder asked gently. "This is really important."

Sam understood the urgency in his tone – if she was able to assume people's appearences, the Purity Control was indeed trying to create some kind of superpowerful, enhanced wizard, somewhow. What for, was still a mystery to her.

She closed her eyes for probably the tenth time that night, with the same intent of using her magic. Her eyes were so bright this time Mulder and Scully could see the exact shape of her pupils underneath her translucent lids.

She concentrated on Mulder, his image. She thought of his really faint smell of sandalwood (even though she didn't know the name for it yet); she thought of his dark hair, of his tiny eyes with that velvety green color, and of his awkward ways and jokes. She thought of him asleep on his sofa the night before, of his bossy voice towards her when they were little but also of his kindness when he would always buy her ice creams with his pocket money whenever they played games together down at the beach. She thought of the silver fox running fast through the window and disappearing into the night and she thought of his voice calling her name in her mind and dreams over the last decade or so.

Her eyes burned so much she felt some discomfort this time. When she opened them, Scully and Mulder were staring at her, agape with all kinds of surprise, wonder and fear.

She knew right away she had succeeded.

WIthout waiting for a further reaction, she then focused on Scully - gentle ways when she took care of her wounds and on her kindness when she panicked during the blood test; she thought of her angry voice when she was mad at the loud noises when they got there; of the sweet scent she had on her (was it vanilla? She was not sure), of her intimidating eyes while talking to her about her uses of Legilimency, of her calm determination and healing spells; she visualized the glassy blue eyes and red hair like a vivid bonfire, and she thought of chocolate.

It was easier the second time, but her eyes were still ablaze with her magic's essence.

By the reaction of both Mulder and Scully after she was done with the transformation, she probably looked like a Scully's twin, except maybe a little too tall.

Sam went back to her own face.

"Seems they wanted to instill Metamorphic habilities into you. Or maybe a way of replicating Polijuice Potion's effects, but without it. Someone that could just assume anyone's appearence could be very powerful and very dangerous", Scully theorized out loud, the amazement and shock still very evident in both her voice and expression. "The Purity Control cannot be underestimated under any circunstances; if that was not evident before, it is clear as water now."

An ominous silence fell like a heavy rain on them, before Sam once more showed signs she was not feeling well, lowering her head and pressing her forehead.

"Alright, we are done for now. You need to eat and rest.", Scully said firmly, standing up. Mulder followed her, transfiguring the table back into the bed, placing it back to its initial place and helping Sam to sit down on it.

Scully conjured a meal (beef, green beans, mashed potatoes, orange juice) on the nightstand. Sam's face was paler than ever, the dark circles under her eyes making her look like Muggle depictions of vampires. The Healer made sure she ate her food, and insisted she should try to get some rest although Sam said she felt better after literally devouring her meal.

"We still don't know how your health is going. All this powerful magic might be draining you, and that could be very dangerous."

Sam was tired of spending her life laid down in beds, but Scully made sure to be equal parts of extremely convincing and intimidating.

The Aurors stood up, making the room go back to how it initially was and then leaving, closing the door behind them. Drained, Sam didn't take long to fall asleep once more.

 _I will see if I can bring her other clothes tomorrow,_ Scully told him, bringing up the silence and alarm spells around the room.

 _I can do that. You already have a lot in your plate for now._ , after a pause, he added, _Do you think you have enough evidence, Scully? I mean, she literally turned her own face into ours just a few minutes ago._

Mulder placed his hand on the small of her back to let her go down the stairs first. She could sense both his worry about the situation and eagerness to know the answer of this question that has been tormenting him since Sam showed up in his apartment the night before.

 _I am pretty sure I do. I will be seing Sean in the morning, and I will head straight to St. Mungus to test the blood myself._

 _Okay._ , he answered back, satisfied for now with her answer, but not losing the opporunity of teasing her a little. _I just hope you won't run away and elope with Pendrell, I don't want to be the one to deliver Skinner the bad news._

 _You seem to be very excited to see Sean and I together, Mulder. I will keep that in mind tomorrow if he asks me out again._

Mulder didn't answer that back, and was also not able to see Scully's amused smile when they reached the end of the staircase.

 **Author's** **Notes:**

Just wanted to thank everyone who is following this so far, and / or had left kudos! 3  
You are the best!

I also wanted to tell my intentions with this fanfiction, since I didn't really had the opportunity to do that so far: when I started this fanfiction, I just wanted to have a fancy description for my Sam + Lone Wanderers drawing I posted on my tumblr (Apollo-Devotee/Tumblr) but the first chapter ended up happening, and two weeks later I decided to keep writing since the ideas kept on coming and this is being a lot fun!

Anyway, I am deviating from the main subject, haha - my intentions are to make this an XF/HP!AU of course, mixing the two universes together and trying to explain the supernatural under the perspective of the Wizarding World, and trying to shape the Wizarding World around the lives of Mulder and Scully as we know them.

However, I also want to "fix" all the things that I really dislike about both stories. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE both HP and XF, but there are some things in them that I actually REALLY hate (more like small, annoying details in HP, and REALLY BIG, plot-relevant things in XF; and also a lot of small decisions made on the characters of Mulder and Scully that REALLY affected their actual personalities/essences on the long run).

This is an AU and like any AU, expect some really big changes from the actual show - all of them I (and many other X-philes I've seen around) wished they were handled very differently in the show. I promise I will try to keep it all as in character as possible, though! Some small traits of their personalities might be slightly different, but that's intentional due to the "!AU" circunstances.

Comments and suggestions if I am slipping here and there, that would be very appreciated though! =D


	5. Beginnings

She polished the fifteenth trophy with the practice that only someone who polished her grandma's entire silverware before each and every Christmas had. By her side, the boy was like a wild animal trapped in a cage that was too small for him - he was silent during the entire time they had been there, but he seemed restless as he polished a huge medal.

"Why are you here?", he suddenly spoke, without really looking at her.

"Excuse me?", she answered, turning her eyes from the trophy to him, squinting. His voice also took her by surprise in the nighttime silence of the room.

Her reaction confused him and he looked up at her, tilting his head a little. He soon realized how his non-expected question actually sounded out loud - specially made by someone under the silver-green banner towards a Muggle-born.

"Oh, no! I didn't mean that!"

"That's not what your cute housemates think", she replied, a very skeptical expression up on her eyes.

The boy certainly didn't have to ask more to know who she was talking about – there was an older group of Slytherin kids causing mayhem among Muggle-borns and Half-blood students while making sure no one of the staff would know what they were doing by behaving impecably good in front of the teachers and in the classes and producing the highest grades of their years.

However, the girl polishing trophies with him was specifically refering to a set of younger students that was following the steps of the older group, all of them third / fourth years, "pure-blood" Slytherins – all, except for one third year boy, who was a Ravenclaw; his family - the very well-known Kryceks - had magic for generations and all of them were Ravenclaws who prized knowledge and magical habilities above everything else. It was easy to see why that boy would stick to such stupid and backwards ideas of blood purity.

He was fully aware that young group would bully that girl in the corridors and between classes, and more frequently than he wanted to admit. He also knew that because he had both witnessed some of the bullying taking action and because he was a target himself, though for very different reasons.

"Listen, you may be Muggle-born but you are a witch as much as any one who had been born into a family that's magic for thirty generations. Sometimes, even more. I am not that kind of person, all of this blood purity thing is nosense.", he told her. "You would be surprised how many of us Slytherins aren't like that at all. And what I meant was 'why are you _here at detention_ tonight?'."

She threw a suspicious look at him for a moment before sighing and lowering her defensive attitude.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I am just really tired of being Slytherin's favorite Mudblood to tease."

" _Don't call yourself that!_ ", he said, horrified.

Probably because she didn't grow up around Wizard culture, the word sounded bad to her but it didn't have the same weight as it had to him.

She simply shrugged in response.

He smirked a little.

"You know...? Diana Fowler was complaining for a week over that punch you gave her. Same goes to Krycek and the magnificent bruise you punched on his eye. Thank you for that by the way, I really hate that idiot."

Her serious, grumpy face instantly changed into the brightest of smiles.

"Are you serious?", she laughed. "Lost 20 points from Gryffindor over each one, but I see now it was more than worth it!"

"Is this the reason why you are here tonight?", he asked with an amused half smile.

"Ohhhh, no. Filch was actually threatening me with those stupid chains in the dungeons because I 'constantly violate the dress code'." she said in a mocking, cynical way. "I told him to shove the chains somewhere else – I also lost 50 points over that."

"You didn't...!", he said, almost dropping everything he was holding as he laughed so much he had tears in his eyes. "That can't be truth, he would've killed you for that!"

"My month of detentions tells me otherwise", she told him, not even a hint of regret in her voice.

"Well, you really do break the dress code a lot", he stared at her overall messy looks.

"It's called 'punk'", she said as she pretended to straighten her loose Gryffindor necktie. She also wore heavy boots, her shirt sleeves folded up her forearm, a choker and bracelets covered in metal spikes.

He tilted his head again.

"It is a Muggle thing.", she answered his silent question, gesturing with her hand, always forgetting Muggle and Wizard cultures were so close together, yet very appart.

"Anyway. You _backtalked Filch_ , literally every student's dream. _I_ should be the one polishing _your_ share of trophies right now for that. You literally are the best person I've ever met in this school!"

He extended his hand.

"By the way. I am Fox Mulder, but just call me Mulder."

"Your name is _Fox_?"

"That's why you can just call me Mulder."

"Your name _is_ Fox.", she said, shaking his hand. "I'm Dana Scully"

"I can call you just Scully to make it square and fair."

"I actually like my first name"

"Scully it is, then", he went on, ignoring her comment.

She rolled her eyes at him, but she was actually glad she had been sharing her detention with a Slytherin boy that wasn't an idiot like the other Slytherin kids she had the chance to interact with.

"So, why are you here then, _Mulder_?"

She watched as he suddenly dropped his smile.

"Oh. I was trying to go to the Forbidden Forest"

She stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Why would you do such thing? The Forbidden Forest is crawling with monsters that can kill you in 50 different ways. Each!"

"I... I have my reasons.", he simply answered.

She knew by his voice tone she shouldn't ask further into it.

The reasons behind his insistent and constant trials to break into the Forbidden Forest would only come to the surface much later that school year.

Scully shook her head slightly, the boredom of waiting and all the events of the last two days making her think of when it all had really started. She then realized she came back to the present because someone – the receptionist - was calling her name.

"I am sorry. I got distracted.", she said, standing up. The silent thought that she might not be really suited for this investigation due to her close connection with Mulder crawled back in her mind for the fourth time that morning.

"Dr. Pendrell is waiting in his room. Do you want me to guide you there?"

"There is no need, thank you.", she said with a polite smile.

She walked down the corridor of the clinic, feeling almost an impostor as she always felt when she was in a full Muggle place and wearing full Muggle clothes. She was so used to the extravagant wizarding world fashion it was always very strange to wear Muggle clothes, to the point she wasn't even certain anymore she could actually choose the right look to pass as a non-magical person. The pantsuits she wore were always feeling like they were way too big for her.

She stopped by the door and knocked softly.

"Come in."

She opened the door and found her childhood friend Sean sitting by the computer, as if he was just typing something before she came over. He smiled at her as he stood up, his red hair standing out against the white room.

"I was starting to think the wizards had actually kidnapped you.", he said cheerfully, greating her with a hug. "It's been ages, Dan."

"I know, I am sorry. Makes me feel even worse coming here today to actually ask you for something."

"Oh, come on. That's OK. You've been very busy lately, even more now with Kevin." He said, understanding. "Also, it is not often Bewitched herself comes to the Mundane world to ask for the help of her Mundane friend."

"It is 'Muggle', and don't be so dramatic.", she laughed nonetheless. "I've told you before the _other side_ has some... science and technology issues. That's why I am here today... and... speaking of 'Bewitched', there is a 'Samantha' envolved in this as well."

A surprised expression emerged on his face right away for he knew about her partner's little sister that mysteriously went missing decades prior, but not really in full detail. Scully tried her best to tell him what happened two nights before, explaining the magic involved and how abnormal it was in Sam's case. She also told him how her health wasn't the greatest and that should be taken in consideration in the blood tests, besides the DNA one.

She took the two glass vials from her coat pocket, one containing a sample of Mulder's blood and the other containing Sam's strange, deep green blood. If Sean didn't knew Dana Scully since they were eight years old, he would probably say she was insane to even tell him that _that_ came from an actual human being.

He held it up so he could look at it closer.

The blood inside seemed fresh, and he marveled for a second at the magical ways that would make his job a lot easier.

"As I said, I have some tests from my side as well, so I can add and compare the results. Also...", she hesitated,"this is really, really important, Sean. I know you have a lot of your own work to do here in the clinic, but I would appreciate any and all speed and urgency you are able to put into this case here. The mystery of two decades might end with our results."

He stared at Scully's expression, both serious and sad, knowing that meant everything to her partner and, to some extension, to her as well.

"Don't worry, Dan. I will be as fast as possible with this. In two or three days maybe you will have all the answers you need from this", he said, still holding the vials with red and green blood between his fingers. "And... I will do my best to hide this stuff as well."

"Yes, please. The last thing we need is someone having to come over here to Obliviate you and the entire staff".

"Sometimes your side is scary as hell, you know that, right?", he said in an unusual grim voice tone.

He always thought that Wizards had no real limits to the bodies and minds of other people, being able to do anything against anyone who is defenseless or clueless enough, with the wave of a wand.

"I know. And I actually agree with that, most of the time."

He didn't ask her why. He was fully aware she was both the equivalent of a doctor and a police officer in her own world and that would only mean she had probably seen things he could only have nightmares of. Whenever he remembered that, his respect for her would go even higher.

"Thank you, Sean. For doing this, I mean."

"You are always welcome", he said, holding her hand for a moment.

After that, they spent some time talking about personal things, updating each other about their lives. She told him news about Kevin, and some little things about her job that he always loved to listen to because her daily life was so surreal and extraodinary to him, as a Muggle. Not that his life working in a fertility clinic was any easier or any less surreal, but still.

After one hour or almost that, Scully stood up and prepared herself to leave.

"I need to get going. I want to start looking right away at my own evidences as you test the blood."

"Alright.", he said, standing up and coming closer to hug her. "We should go out sometime, to meet for fun and not as some kind of work meeting."

She stared at him, serious.

"We've talked about this before, Sean. And you know I wouldn't be able to, anyway."

He smiled at her, a genuine smile.

"I know that. I really mean that as just friends."

"Well. In that case, that would be great.", she answered with a smile but at the same time relieved she wouldn't have to decline his feelings again.

Thoughtful, Mulder walked down the main corridor at the Department of Mysteries, turning left and going down a second set of long stairs.

Sometimes he felt like they worked down in a basement, so hidden and deep underground was their office, even being fully aware all the Dept. of Mysteries' offices were _all_ hidden and deep underground, mostly for safety measures.

And not even that worked, he thought, the most recent events in there proving that.

He stopped at the middle of the black corridor, where up on the plain, shiny wall was a golden plaque with words engraved:

 _\- FOX MULDER & O.H. DANA SCULLY -  
Special Aurors_

He still remembered how Scully herself changed the plaque, that only had her name, to also show her "Official Healer" credentials in front of it - "I studied six years for those, and I want to make sure I will use them", she had said back then.

He drew out his wand and touched the wall.

 _'_ _Trust no one'_ , he said the password in his mind.

A door started to carve and form itself in the wall right away, black and shiny as everything in that Department and a second later he was inside the room, closing the door behind him.

The office (nicknamed "The Mystery Files" by the Department, due to the nature of their investigations) was the usual organized chaos it always had been, with dozens of archives and piles of documents, reports, files and evidence pictures scattered over the two desks and hanging on the walls.

Not even Scully's strict sense of organization was able to keep up with the room's hability to mess itself up. However, they would always find whatever they needed in their chaos, no matter what.

He sat by his desk, wanting to start some paperwork on one of the cases they had recently solved - a Chinese wolf-like magical creature that had arrived in a ship and was attacking Muggles by taking human shapes to deceive its victims; it took them forever to figure what even that was.

Instead, he kept eyeing Scully's empty desk as if she would just Apparate there with all the answers about Sam's identity (no one could Apparate inside the Ministry at all).

After trying to work for over an hour with very little progress, he simply stood up and walked around the room, his thoughts all over the place inside his head, wishing he had a Pensieve on him not for the first time since Sam somehow showed up in his living room.

He couldn't simply leave and follow Scully around with her investigations for he promised he would be there to cover her absence if it was necessary - and because everything in the Ministry was mayhem since the 18th when Arthur Weasley was violently attacked right at the Dept. of Mysteries's entrance, which was very concerning and suspicious, for Arthur worked in a completely different Department and because it was an extremely violent attack in the core of the Ministry itself.

He wondered if that was related at all to the rumors of Lord Voldemort's return, as he seemed to be the only one in there who actually believed the boy Potter's word on that, against all the newspapers and the Ministry itself saying otherwise.

He also wondered if Sam's appearence had anything to do with that as well, or if that was only a weird-timed coincidence.

He paced the room like a caged lion.

Like he always did whenever he was trying to figure something out in a case, or in days like this where he was too restless to focus, he stopped and faced the Muggle poster he had bought when he was in the US a couple of years prior, working for MACUSA. He had charmed it so the little vessel would move around over the picture of the forest it was flying over, and he liked to watch it fly around because it always helped him focus, for some reason.

They were so close to the truth around Sam, it was almost painful for him to stand still in that office, doing nothing to help Scully with it. His inner, unusual voice of reason told him he would be useless anyway – he was not a Healer, magical or Muggle, and he would only get in her way, being all anxious around her.

That would probably make her want to throw him over the nearest window.

Thinking of that made him think of when they met that detention night, nearly 20 years before.

He remembered of her red hair cut a little past over her shoulders with a short fringe, and her huge glasses on her freckle-speckled nose.

He also remembered she asked why he was there polishing old trophies with her, and how it was literally the very begining of it all – his long-term, close relationship with her, interrupted after they graduated from Hogwarts when they went separate ways, only to be restablished a few years prior, when they started to work at the Dept. of Mysteries together.

He would only answer that question she had made much later that year, when they were already friends against all odds in a school full of kids that really made clear they shouldn't be friends at all only because of the stupid houses they were sorted into.

They never followed rules anyway.

"Why are you always trying to get into that stupid Forest, Mulder? It is dangerous!", she had said to him, that little child-Scully. She would always concern for his safety, being the 12 year old she was back then or now at 31.

He remembered like it was yesterday that he hesitated. A lot. But he somehow managed to answer her.

"I am looking for Will-o'-the-Wisps.", he finally confessed, not really looking at her. "I read the Forbidden Forest has the greatest number of them in Britain."

Next to him, laid down on her side on the garden's grass, Scully squinted behind her glasses, unsure and confused, her left arm supporting her head up as she did so.

"Okay... and why are you searching for Will-o'-the-Wisps...?"

"Because...", he hesitated, not taking his eyes from the book he had in his hands back then. "Because they took my sister last year."

Realization came into her expression.

"Oh... it is you, then.", he looked at her. Noticing his usual confused expression, she added, "Sorry. I actually remember comments around someone's sister that had... disappeared last year". She was actually being very euphemistic - all the kids were saying the girl had been killed and everyone had at least one gruesome theory on how it had happened.

"Everyone thinks she is dead." He said, as if able to read her last thought. "I don't think she is."

"What happened?"

He hesitated once more, questioning himself why he would tell that second year Gryffindor girl about the thing that scared him so much he still had vivid dreams about it and that would make him wake up sweating in the middle of the night; the event that made him repeat a year at Hogwarts and made him an easy target for some of the idiots of his own house that thought losing a sister was some kind of joke.

But he decided to go on, he remembered, reassured by the the way she had looked at him – genuinely concerned and as if he was not insane like everyone else thought. Even his own parentes thought he was out of his mind, in denial of Samantha's disappearence.

"I...I was there when she was taken." It was the truth he would never be ashamed to say out loud, whenever he decided to do it.

He told Scully what had happened that night during his summer break period between his first and second years. How his eight year old sister floated away into the light, how he tried to help but was paralyzed like someone had thrown him a Body Freezing Spell. And how she had vanished, leaving no traces behind for the Aurors or anyone else to find.

For some reason, he knew that was no human deed.

"After that, I searched on creatures that take children away, creatures that shine bright lights. Will-o'-the-Wisps where the ones that fit better... I guess."

"You don't seem very sure", she had said to him.

"Will-o'-the-Wisps _do_ take children away and they also have their own light, but... their ways are so different from what I saw that night."

"Yeah", Scully agreed, Will-o'-the-Wisps being a first year subject on DADA, the teacher even showing one to the class back then. "It looks a lot more like some... alien abduction or something."

"A _what_?", he also recalled asking her, looking towards her.

"Oh? Haven't wizards ever heard about aliens? People claiming they were taken by them? That kind of weird stuff...?" she saw him say no with a slight shake of his head, his attention completely captured. She sighed, sitting up and crossing her arms, her chipped black nailpolish even more evident against her school robes. "Some Muggles think there is life outside Earth, living somewhere on outter space. And that sometimes they come here and abduct someone, with lights on them, paralysis and all that jazz, and then they are returned again."

"I had no idea of that.", he told her, his eyes full of wonder. "That... looks a lot like what happened to my sister... and you said they were returned?"

"I didn't say anything, that's what these people who believe in them say. I think all of this is bollocks."

"So... they don't exist?"

"Not according to our scientists and astronomers."

"But your scientists and astronomers also say magic is only in stories for small children."

"Yeah... but that's different."

"How is it different? Muggles are wrong in a lot of things."

"So are wizards, Mulder! I mean. We use _quills._ Why not _normal pens_?"

"I will go to the library.", he had said, completely ignoring her question, putting his books back into his backpack and throwing it over his shoulder as he stood up. "I need to search for these space creatures, I might be looking at the wrong place this entire time...!"

At the same time he remembered leaving Scully mumbling to herself in the gardens, Mulder came back to the present, still looking at the vessel picture moving around.

That was the very first time Scully ever helped him to go towards the right direction in an investigation.

He followed the clues back then, and discovered the Muggle's "aliens" – it had taken him the longest time to find out the name they were actually called in the Wizarding World: "Star Elves". They were also called "Starkin", "Spacelings", "Night Faes", "Star Folk" and many more in many Wizarding cultures around the world.

"Star Elves" - the answer to Samantha's disappearence, the beginning and the end of it all.

And for the millionth time that day, he wondered if it all would finally, ironically end on the very opposite way it had started – with his sister showing up to him in the middle of the night in his living room, just like that and without warning.

"Dana?"

"Yes, honey?", Scully looked up from the coffee table covered in notes and pictures to the boy in his pajamas, holding a book in his hand, looking at her from the other side of the room. He seemed upset.

"Is everything alright?"

"I can't sleep. Can I stay here with you?"

Before Kevin would come any closer, Scully nonverbally made the See-Through pictures of Sam's body pile up by themselves on the coffee table, facing down – unlike Muggle X-Rays, they were a lot more detailed and could be very gruesome to be seen by a ten year old boy who still had vivid nightmares of his kidnapper.

At the same time they piled up, she reached out with an arm, gesturing him to come closer. He sat by her right side, leaning against her.

"Did you have any bad dreams again?", she asked kindly, caressing his hair.

"No... I just can't sleep...", he answered, balling up like a kitten on the sofa by her side.

Scully knew right away he was lying. And why.

"Listen, honey.", she started, and he looked up at her with huge blue eyes that could easily be just like Scully's. "You don't have to lie not to worry me. I am here to help you out."

The little boy sighed.

"I know. It is just... It happens a lot... and always that same thing over and over, when... he held me and threw both of us into the shredding machine. You never get there in time to save me.", he said, the last sentence coming out with a trembling note in his voice. "I hate this."

He looked up at her again, and she could see he was holding back his tears as much as he could.

She wrapped her arms around him just like she did after she had pulled her wand just in time to prevent him of falling straight into metal jaws. Even though he was not in any mortal danger that present moment, her embrace had the same protectiveness in it that it had on that night she had saved him – that same protectiveness she felt towards him since the first time she saw him was one of the many reasons why she had always known he was her son, regardless of them both not sharing the same family tree and blood.

"You went through some terrible experiences, Kevin." She said, her cheek against his soft hair. "It is normal, and okay to be afraid... "

She hesitated, thinking if she should or not continue her sentence.

"...I too am afraid sometimes, just like you are."

He pulled himself out of the hug, looking at her with skeptical blue eyes still slightly red from the effort of not crying.

"But... you came after me. You were not afraid at all."

She smiled softly at him.

"Of course I am afraid, honey. Sometimes I too have bad dreams. About the man that captured you. And other bad things.", she confessed.

She thought of how sometimes her spell would fail and Kevin would fall to his death, or how sometimes she was not able to find him or get to him in time. But she was also refering to other specific moments prior to Kevin's arrival in her life, such as her own kidnapper that almost got her killed if she hadn't fought him back and how his strangely distorted face looking down at her still haunted her dreams in the dead of night, waking her up in cold sweat. She thought of her abduction, when she could still hear Mulder screaming her name and never reaching her in time – which actually had happened in real life, making it even worse. She was also aware Mulder had nightmares of both ocasions as well, though through his side of the events: her voice calling his name just before the abduction, her frightened face just before breaking down in desperate tears in front of him - something that never really happened before or after that.

"Really?", Kevin asked, bringing her back from her own memories.

He seemed too surprised by the fact the woman that had saved him from the hands of a mad man ready to end his life would even experience any kind of fear to notice she was actually lost in her own nightmares for a moment.

"Really." she answered, her right arm round him, her hand in his hair, caressing him softly. "And... whenever I have a bad dream like that and feel frightened, I try to stay in the present. That anything bad that is scaring me now, is already gone. That I am here and alive and that I have the best son by my side."

"Muuum!", he whined, crunching his nose up as if telling her that was the sappiest thing she could have ever said. He smiled and even blushed a little, nonetheless.

He was slowly starting to call her that, and she felt her heart flip over everytime he did it.

"You know I never lie.", she said, laughing a bit at his reaction – it was the cutest thing ever. "Anyway... what I mean is that you can try the same thing. And you know you can always come to me to talk. Or for a hug if you need."

She held him closer and then poked his side sligthly. He chuckled, flinching a little bit. He then seemed to think for a moment.

"I will try...", he told her, visibly better than before they started talking. "But... can I stay here with you...?"

"Of course you can, honey. But I won't be able to talk more, because I am working."

"That's okay. I brought this." He said, pointing the book he had in his hand.

He then laid on the sofa, his head on Scully's lap, opening the book on the marked page and started to read it.

She smiled down at him and turned back to her coffee table. Unable to move as much now with her son's head on her leg, she gestured for the coffee table to come closer to her, so she could still see her notes and evidences.

She also silently cast a spell that would filter her voice, making Kevin unable to hear what she was actually saying - Scully had done this a couple of times before, whenever she was working and he came over to cuddle before bed, or if he had bad dreams. He was aware of the spell, and that whenever she was working she would say things he was not supposed to hear. He didn't really mind the silence, as long as he was able to be in his mother's company and under her eyes, as watchful as a bird of prey's.

"Resuming the report." she said, and her quill stood up and started to write down on a page of her Healer's journal as she recited the words. "Sam has traces of magic in her blood that are at least six times stronger than the average witch's, as pointed out in the tests I made myself on a small sample of her blood. That high level of magic power was proved by the tests Mulder and I conducted. Her magic is both instinctive and learned by observation; we were able to point out that one of her fortes so far is Transfiguration – she is capable of Transfiguring big objects into a more complex and detailed one in the dark, and she is capable of taking the form of not only one, but several Animagus forms. She also presented precise Metamorphic habilities and strong Legilimency skills - we believe the fact she is a Type 7 Abductee has a lot to do with these results. We were not yet able to test her offensive/defensive skills, or if she has any Healing habilities yet."

She leaned back and threw a fast look down towards Kevin, who was silently reading his book. She caressed the boy's forehead and hair with her right hand as she progressed on her report.

"The Malady Detector pointed out issues with her blood: anemia and hormone inbalances. It was not able to go further in detail, but I believe Pendrell's test will be more objective about these problems."

"I could also observe she has some psychological traumas as well – PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks and maybe paranoia and trust issues, which are all consistent with the story she had told us."

Scully summoned some of the pictures from the coffee table to her hands, placing them by her left side. She picked a couple of them and studied them once more, as if to be certain of what she was about to tell the report, though she was pretty certain of what the images had told her earlier.

"The See-Through picture of her eyes revealed nothing out of the ordinary in her anatomy, which makes me theorize it is her type of magic reacting in an abnormal way. The See-Through pictures revealed her odd blood color as well, and no damage in her organs. However, the Malady Detector was able to tell me that Sam... that she is sterile, like all abductees."

Scully sighed, stopping her speech, that small detail actually hitting her way too close to home.

She looked down at Kevin again - at this point, his book laid down open on his chest as he was already fast asleep due to Scully's company and hand in his hair.

She wondered how Sam would react to that information – would that bring her down, like it did to Scully when she learned about it? Now with her little boy, the fact she could not get pregnant didn't bother her as much as it used to, but it still was a sensitive topic to her.

She shook the thoughts away from her mind and went back to her report. She picked up another picture, one that showed Sam's front side, tapping it with her wand to make it show not her muscles and tendons, but Sam's skin on her arm. She tapped it again so the picture would zoom in.

"I suspect the marks she has on her skin are not there because they took her blood out constantly, but because they put it back in. My theory is that the blood always came back so tempered with, and so powerful, it actually burned Sam from the inside out. That's why her scars are shaped exactly like the web of veins in her body. Since the blood returned to her through her arms, that's where the scars are most concentrated in, being big and thick probably for all the years doing such procedures."

Scully remembered how she herself had thin, blue-looking scars on her arms when she was returned from her abduction, two years prior. Eventually, they faded. But she was kept for only two weeks. All of the evidences, from Sam's ill-looking appearence to her behaviours, habilities and scars, were telling her that she was indeed kept under control for many years, just like she had claimed.

"The Malady Detector says she does not menstruate – probably due to the hormone inbalances, anemia and extremely low levels of fat in her body. Sam claimed the Purity Control would feed her regularly nonetheless, and that she was given a potion to drink before her meals. My theory is that they were somehow trying to keep her body from falling apart with all the experiments they werer performing on her, feeding her a very rich and well-balanced diet with some kind of potion that would help her body absorb the nutrients better. If all of this is correct, she wouldn't have survived for more than a couple of months for the tests were clearly very draining."

"That is, so far, everything I could gather from the woman we call 'Sam'. I now wait for further information that will be provided by the Muggle blood testing, which will be ready in two or three days. I finish this report for now, an adendum will be added after I have the remaining blood results in hand."

Her quill silently fell down over the paper, still now she had stopped speaking out loud. She sighed, leaning back again and rubbing her face, tired. It was already 3 am in the morning - the latest events completely screwed her sleeping schedule.

Scully thought for a moment if she should write a message for Mulder, telling him about her report and that she was done with it so far, but decided it would be a bad idea. She knew he was extremely eager to know about Sam already, and giving him only half informations would only make things worse for him.

In the end, she waved her wand to gather all the notes and evidences back into her Healer's pouch, summoning it to her palm. She carefully performed a Levitation Charm on Kevin, so she could stand up without waking him up.

With the spell supporting his weight, she held him in her arms, took him back to his room and laid him down on his bed, placing his book on the nightstand nearby. She tucked him in and kissed his forehead before leaving the room softly lit by a lamp, closing the door behind her.

She laid down on her side of the bed, and turned off the lights, ready to fall asleep immediately for she felt exhausted. But instead, she laid there for at least another hour, staring at her light-streaked ceiling, thinking about all of her evidences so far, thinking about Sam, thinking about Mulder – she knew he would be as awake as she was on that very moment, staring at his own apartment's ceiling.

The last thought she had before finally falling asleep was how the other women that showed up before claiming to be Samatha Mulder were all different from each other and not at all similar to pictures Scully had seen of Samantha as a child.

Behind her closed eyelids, she was able to see the image of those women, of Sam's and pictures of little Samantha, and could not deny that Sam not only looked like the baby pictures Mulder had of his sister, but also looked awfully alike to Mulder himself, both in appearence and ways, contrary to all the others before. She was unsure if that was or not a good sign.

 **Author's Note:  
** Just wanted to talk a little about Kevin Kryder - he is that little boy from the episode "Revelations" (S03E11). His relationship with Scully in that single episode has always intrigued me since I rewatched it earlier this year - it gave me the impression throughout the entire episode, specially by what he says to her in the end, that they would eventually meet again, or even further, since Kevin had no parents left to take care of him, and Scully being this kind of "celestial-sent" protector to save him from the hands of evil, that she would actually go back there to take the entire thing of "sent to protect him" to a whole new level and actually adopt little Kevin.

Seems a little stretch, over that one single episode, I know, but on the long run of the XF series, with Scully being more and more shown as someone who is kinda… special in some ways (heavenly and scientifically speaking), and her strong desire to be a mother that is ALWAYS denied to her, it just makes so much sense to me. And since I said on the last chapter's notes, I wanted to fix somethings that really bother me in the show so here is one of them, haha.

And regarding the "Revelations" episode itself in this AU, I think nothing would really be different from the canon - Mulder and Scully go on disguised as Muggle police as they always do when it is a case with Muggles involved, to investigate these bizarre cases of people being killed in a very suspicious manner that might have magic included in it. They find out about Kevin and everything pretty much happens as in the canon, for I wanted the religious themes and tones to remain just like they are, for many reasons: because of Scully, because of the nature of Kevin's character, and because I don't think the Wizarding World AU would interfere in anything about it anyway. There are other reasons, but that's subject for the next chapters ;)


	6. Endings

He lifted his wand once more, the neverending suggestions from Frohike to give up this idea of making electronic gadgets work with magic just now starting to seem slightly charming to him.

Even more when followed by resisting spell after resisting spell, so many of them piled up on that old computer that a weird, static atmosphere was created around the house, specially the main room, and was driving everyone crazy with the constant feeling someone was pinching them.

Then, as expected between 5-7pm, they heard the reverberation of a muffled, powerful explosion coming from upstairs. Because it was the sixth day after Sam had arrived not only in Mulder's living room, but in everyone else's life, both Langly and Frohike didn't even bat an eyelash at the sound.

They simply scratched another invisible pinch, in silence.

All the same, Frohike looked away from one of the DA Detection Maps he was closely studying to message the update on Sam to the others. After the fourth time of it being always the same routine, and Sam being very harmless and cooperative anyway, it became more of a habit and a way of keeping everyone (specially Scully) in the loop about her behaviours, than to actually call for backup.

Tired, Langly stood up, not feeling at all like going on with his magic hacking for that night, a lot of his frustration about countless failing attempts at last taking its toll. As he walked towards the stairs, he felt a particularly hard pinch on his side.

"I will check on her .", he told Frohike. Noticing he was also standing up to follow him, he added, "No need to come, it's been six days already and if she wanted to explode this entire house with us in it while we sleep, she would have done that in the blink of an eye."

Frohike looked back at him, unsure.

"Just safety measures man. But if you think you can manage, then you can manage. I will be here if you need anything.", he acknowledged, the 'be cautious' warning vividly written on tiny his eyes when he looked up at Langly. They bickered all the time, but that didn't mean he wanted his friend to be fried in pieces so small the biggest part of him they would ever find would be his finger.

Langly just nodded back at him with an amused smile, unused with Frohike's sudden worried attitude towards him. He felt touched however, that he was looking after him and cared about his safety.

That had always been a delicate subject to Langly.

He climbed the steps in a slow but steady pace, giving Sam the time he knew she needed to gather her own mind together after such nightmares - backing Mulder up on that visit to her room after the first day's explosion was enough to tell him Sam had unspeakable events laying back in her past.

A past that was currently only six nights back away from her.

He took his time to climb the stairs, hearing Frohike cursing more than once over Langly's static pinches, and waited some more outside before drawing back the security spells from her door and knocking softly.

"Sam? It is me, Langly."

"Come in.", she answered in her low voice tone.

He opened the door carefully and looked around quickly inside before stepping in. She had already fixed everything up as she usually did.

As always after her vivid nightmares, she was still sitting on her bed, her arms around her knees. She was wearing one of the pajamas sets Mulder had brought her the night after her health and magical tests, along with other robes, pants and shoes.

"Hello, Sam.", he started, sitting by the end of the bed, on the opposite side she was. "How are you feeling tonight?"

She shrugged in a tired, blunt manner.

"Just the same thing, whenever this happens".

He looked at her, silence falling between them. He could tell by now she grew very uncomfortable and frustrated over the fact she couldn't see people's superficial thoughts anymore, and was less and less talkative. He could feel a small hint of anger around her as well, since they all started to shut their minds to her Legilimency.

Langly didn't take that personally, though. She had very good reasons not to trust anyone and he knew that better than anyone. And even if she wasn't his friends' long lost sister, Sam was still someone who desperately needed help. He wished he could know how to do that, however.

Uncertain of what to do next, he just spoke to her, the words simply coming to his mind's surface and straight to his thin lips.

"You know, when I was little, my only friends were these… fictional characters", he started, avoiding to mention TV's for that would only confuse her. "Everyone remembers their childhood with this feeling of nostalgia and utopian happiness, while that was easily the worst period of my life. I had no friends at all and I was as lonely as I could be, I was 'the strange kid with strange hair', and worse. And being a magical kid in a Muggle world on top of that didn't help with it, either. I used to think these characters I liked were my best friends back then. And nothing could go wrong as long as they were there for me – which, of course, was not the truth. They were only characters in kid's stories."

Not expecting Langly's sudden confession, Sam simply listened, a child-like curiosity in the way she observed him.

"To my relief,", he continued after his pause. "I was able to meet Frohike and Byers, and Mulder and Scully later. They are the friends I've always wanted to have when I was little. But it took many years of being a lonely kid, and later on when I was a bit older..."

She listened to him in silence, letting his story sink in for several minutes. When she saw he was turning his face to look at her, she avoided the eye contact, looking away.

She started to play with her blanket, underneath her.

"It… It is almost always about my tests... my dreams, I mean.", she started. "The first day I was here, it was about the night I was taken away as a child."

Just as Sam when she listened to him talk, Langly listened carefully and silently.

"Then I started to re-live my experiments. Blood taken away, magical power tests until I couldn't open my eyes anymore. Tonight, my nightmare reminded me how… it was like to walk forward in a long corridor, my steps certain of where I was going to and where I had to be, at the same time I had no will to do so, in my mind. How it was, to have that... hideous voice in my head always telling me what to do next,", she said, hanging her own head down between her knees, as if the voice was back there as she spoke. "and never being able to fight it back, or to refuse to obey it, being... being controlled and unable to resist."

She held her position for a moment and then looked up, stopping to swallow, as if her agitated voice and tense story had left some kind of bitter aftertaste in her mouth. Her eyes darted through the room and not really looking at Langly as they reflected the restlessness inside her mind.

Langly just watched her there and couldn't help but imagine, if she really was Samantha Mulder, or even if she wasn't Samantha but was, just like her, taken away at such young age; how it would be like to be eight or nine or five or fifteen and go under mind control and horrifying tests, for years without end and no mercy from her captors and being a small, defenseless child. Or a defenseless grown-up woman.

He felt sick in his stomach with the involuntary mental images, enhanced by Sam's deep scars he couldn't see but he knew she had under the long sleeves she made sure to wear all the time, because she knew she couldn't show that to anyone for no one would ever even begin to understand a lifetime like hers, all the pain and loneliness.

Being Samantha Mulder or not, she had been lost up to this moment - until she found Mulder all by herself, somehow. Maybe that could mean something. Being Samantha Mulder, or not.

With that thought in mind, he stood up.

"Come on. Change, and let's go downstairs." , he invited, the hint of a smile on his thin lips. "You've been up here for days already, and I realized we never really showed you around. Maybe we can find something cool for you to do while we wait for miss Scully's answers about you, tomorrow. And maybe getting out of this room for a while might help distracting you a little from… from your dreams."

She looked up at him, unsure.

However, she remembered the story he had just told her. At the same time, she somehow realized she would probably feel unsure about everybody for the rest of her life anyway. Under that thought she simply nodded a timid "yes" as her pajamas were replaced by a dark purple, long-sleeved robe and a pair of dark pants in the blink of an eye.

On the following night, when the Wanderers' notebooks vibrated in their pockets around 11pm with messages from Mulder and Scully for them to open the house like they always did, they quickly did so.

When the Special Aurors Apparated in the middle of the large room, dark-robed as usual, the image of Sam sitting by one of the tables with Langly was the first thing to catch their eyes - even though Frohike had notebooked them the night prior with dramatic, but sincere, joyful capital letters and multiple exclamations that she had left her room upstairs and had joined them in the main room as Langly showed around and explained about some of the Dark Arts detectors and sensors.

He didn't mention though that the magic hacker had finally found out something to capture Sam's interest and occupy her time with.

The Aurors approached them and Scully observed the books on the table surrounded by all sorts of parchments rolls, technical sheets, maps, magically animated illustrations and tiny charmed figurines fighting each other in a caricature way - Langly was teaching Sam RPG.

She was about to comment on it when she sensed Mulder's mind in hers and she looked at him.

 _I think this is not what it seems,_ his thoughts formulated in her mind, faster than words, in what she could feel was a positive tone; amused, even, temporarily concealing how restless he actually felt that night, more than any other.

 _What do you mean?_

 _Langly sometimes is all crazy as you know, but I know him well. This is not just because. Look."_ he said, and Scully did what he had suggested in a matter of milliseconds, and just as quickly as their exchange of thoughts, she was able to understand what he meant.

Her keen, avid eyes moved through the parchment roll Sam had just in front of her - it was a "character sheet", as it said on the top of it with decorated words, and Sam filled in the personality traits of her character named "Lua" with a big, shaky, childlike calligraphy. There were books scattered around them, and it seemed Langly had been helping her out with that, too.

 _He is reminding her how to write and read…_ , she said, at the same time realizing she had to uncharacteristically remind herself that it wasn't only the magical education that mattered, and apparently Sam would need help with the basics as well.

"He's turning her into a nerd like him", they heard Frohike tease from the other side of the room.

"Thought I could distract her a little bit with this. 'Tormenta' is a great system.", Langly said casually, as if Mulder and Scully were avid players themselves, ignoring Frohike's comment. "She is picking up the rules quite fast. Right, Sam?"

Langly looked at her and then up at them with a cryptic smile on his thin lips. Sam timidly nodded in response, the tip of her left fingers stained with ink over the parchment as she held the quill.

The Aurors understood it wasn't just the game's rules she was picking up fast. Mulder glanced at Scully with the "told you" smile he always used with her. They were both happy though, that the boys were finally able to make her interact more, and distract herself a little from the world outside the protected headquarters and home of the Lone Wanderers, and from her own memories.

"That's very good.", said Mulder.

However, unlike the previous days, they were not there just to check out on them and Sam. That was the night they would finally have the answers every single person in that room wanted to know since her arrival on the week before.

"Well, Sam. Let's go upstairs, please. We need to talk.", Scully said.

"We can finish this later, Sam." , Langly said with a reassuring wink at her. Samantha Mulder or not, he thought.

She stood up very fast, revealing her eagerness to do so and to follow the Aurors as soon as possible. They noticed she had no shoes on, regardless of Mulder bringing here a couple of pairs earlier that week. Mulder then scratched his arm, the weird feeling of a pinch taking him by surprise.

Upstairs, they conjured two chairs and sat, Scully gesturing at Sam to sit on the bed in front of them.

"First of all Sam...", the Healer started. "we need to talk a little about your health conditions. There are a few things that... _really_ need to be addressed."

She glanced at Mulder and back at her, as if apologizing for delaying even more what they wanted to know.

"Oh… Ok, then." Sam simply answered in her thin, unused voice.

"First of all, both my and Sean's tests revealed you have some hormone imbalances, which are easy to treat, but also revealed severe anaemia, which is, unsurprisingly, a blood condition. That's why you are so frail in condition and also the reason why you feel so tired all the time. The tests you were put through for years more than surely caused this, and the potion you told me about, which you used to drink before meals, was probably to prevent the anaemia from getting worse."

"Can it be treated…?", asked Mulder, concerned.

"Fortunately, yes. With both magical and Muggle medicine, which I have here with me", she patted her pocket where her Healer Pouch was. "We will talk about that later. And since you will never undergo those hideous tests _ever again_ , Sam, you will probably be able to recover completely. I will watch out for it."

"Alright… t-thank you, miss Scully.", she answered, deeply grateful more to the fact Scully had stated that she would never be tested again with so much determination, than anything else. And the Healer was so far keeping up with her promises to her.

Scully replied her with a soft smile, but it rapidly faded as she remembered the other news she had to deliver.

"I was also able to find out that the tests… that they also made you infertile; you won't be able to have children. Unfortunately, this is something very common among abductees."

"Okay. What else…?", she said, not looking very worried.

Her casual reply kind of took Scully by surprise at first, even though she didn't really demonstrated it. But then she had to remember herself that Sam was not really given the opportunity to fully develop emotionally. And not to mention, of course, some people simply didn't care about parenthood. As long as Sam was okay with it, it all should be fine.

"Your scars. I have a theory for them.", she continued. "I noticed that they have the exact same shape of your veins - I think the tested blood burnt you whenever they put it back in you. And because they did it a lot, that's why they are concentrated on your arms, for that's where the blood was reintroduced into your system."

"Can they be removed?", asked Sam, with a hint of hope in her question.

"I am not sure. But we can definitely try, if that's what you wish."

"I do... I really do."

"We will work on that too, then. About your ways of magic... You are what we call a 'Type 7' abductee. We will go further into details later, but in short, there are many types of people that return from abduction, and we ranked them so far from Type 1 to Type 4. The higher the number, the more powerful is the person when they return from their abduction."

"We've never seen a Type 7 like you before.", added Mulder. "We thought that 4 was the highest number, or maybe even 5, but we hadn't find them yet. Until you showed up and proved us very wrong."

"Exactly.", continued Scully. "Your blood also has a high rate of magic in it, much higher than the average. This explains your powers, and how you perform it. I've haven't found any physical traces of why your eyes glow when you perform your magic, which makes me think it is just a way for it to manifest itself. But we will keep monitoring that as well, to see if that won't give you any complications in the long run..."

"Miss Scully?"

"Yes, Sam?"

"I am sorry… but… were you able to find out about my identity as well?", she was fidgeting a lot, her black-stained and lightly scarred fingers grasping her robes on her lap.

The Healer took a deep, shaky breath before answering.

"Yes. Yes I was."

Scully noticed with her peripheral vision when Mulder moved on the chair by her left, his tension so evident to her she wouldn't even need any Legilimency skills to tell that.

She couldn't blame him at all.

When she spoke again, her voice too was shaking, unable to conceal how emotional she felt towards the whole situation and its very history, up to that moment. She was about to be the one to end this one, significant chapter of it.

It was finally over.

"The blood… DNA test showed that y-you… That you are indeed Samantha Mulder…", she finally said, instantly feeling the tears in the back of her eyes as she looked from Sam to Mulder. " _The_ Samantha Mulder."

In the past, both Mulder and Scully had opportunities to use Time-Turners, as a training for the Department of Mysteries, and also when Scully had attended simultaneously medical school and the Healer's Academy. But they were so caught in the torrent of emotions they barely noticed that the feeling of that second could be compared to the very moment of when they had used it to go back in time so many times: frozen still, at the same time passing by so quickly you can't really tell what is going on around you, at the same time it is all in slow motion.

They also were not able to realize that, in a way, they did went back in time for Samantha was there again in front of them, just like in Mulder's oldest, most cherished memories - and Samantha's, too.

Under the Healer's revelation, Samantha just stared back at her with widened eyes. When she slowly moved her gaze from Scully to Mulder, her eyes met her brother's for the first time and became warm with a very different kind of magic. Thick tears instantly ran down her pale, scarred face, her expression frozen just like that moment, with all kinds of joy and shock and relief.

Realizing Samantha was moving her face to look at him, Mulder joined her in her motion so he could look back at her, his mind slowing its thoughts for the first time in days, in years. Without a single word, he slowly dropped to his knees on the floor in front of his sister, and embraced her tightly around her waist.

He leaned his head on her and cried, sobbing deeply.

Samantha immediately leaned forward in response, her head and arms on his back, embracing him and sobbing just as deeply with the same joy and sorrow of their reunion, and of her identity that was finally reclaimed, rightfully regained. She could no longer have a past, but she now knew she had a future - and her family back.

In that moment frozen in time, looking at the siblings' embrace that took them two decades to happen ever again, Scully just watched them together, and watched Mulder sob like she never thought it would be possible with a smile just as tearful and full of emotions of her own about the loss of Samantha - all the early teenage memories of her and Mulder sharing detentions at school because she was too rebel to follow the rules and because he was too rebel to let his sister go, against all the evidences and adults telling him otherwise, and all the searches and cases they had worked together that lead them to that very moment.

It was finally over.

 _Welcome home, Samantha._ , Mulder told her, unable to speak out loud from under his overflowing emotions and tears. She sobbed even harder when she heard her brother's voice inside her head, the only voice she would ever let into her thoughts, the beginning and the catalyst for her liberation, mind and body.

As much a part of it she had been, Scully knew her share had been played already, and she did not belong in that moment. With her touched smile still on, she stood up, placing one hand briefly, but tenderly over Samantha's hair as she passed by them.

 _I will be downstairs, Mulder... I am very, very happy, for both of you._ , she told him, without really waiting for an answer. However, his mindvoice echoed back just as emotional as his real voice would be.

 _Thank you, Scully...Really. I will talk to you later._

Scully left the room quietly and went down the staircase, wiping off her tears with both hands. All three Wanderers immediately looked up at her as she went down, their faces painfully eager.

The bright, red-eyed smile and relieved chuckle she let escape were enough to tell them the answer they wanted to know, and that they wanted so badly to be truth. Their reaction of standing up and screaming and laughing in celebration passed on to her as if it was contagious.

They ran to the tiny Healer-Auror and all of them hugged her in a messy, overjoyed embrace - their own happiness playing its part and their own way of thanking her on Mulder's behalf for what she just had done. She returned their hug, beaming just like they were, everyone's pockets overflowing with bright, multicolored stars and speackles of light, the magic in their wands picking up on their moods perfectly.

It was _finally over_.

After just holding Samantha and crying with her for the longest time, he pulled away from her embrace, drying his tears away. Still kneeling on the floor before her, he looked up to the bright blue eyes and held her face between his hands, his thumbs wiping off her tears, and looking at her as if it was the very first time he was ever seeing her - which wasn't really a lie, for he was looking at her now a hundred percent certain that she _was_ Samantha, his baby sister he had never given up looking for.

At his gesture, she smiled at the same time she shed another tear, feeling truly loved for the first time in so long.

"Hello, Samantha.", he smiled back at her, unable to contain his joy.

"Hello, Fox.", she replied with the same kind of expression on her face.

His smile then faltered and he looked away for a moment.

"I-I am sorry I didn't believe it was you. I am so, so sorry…"

"It is okay… It really doesn't matter anymore.", she said, lifting a hand up and placing over his, still on her face.

His hesitation vanished and he smiled again.

"You are right. You are here, it is you, it is _really you_. I can't believe this… and look at you, all grown up, almost as tall as me...! Last time I saw you, you barely hit my shoulders."

"I can levitate to be taller than you if I want, now", she replied, surprised at her own joke. She thought she would never be able to do such a simple thing.

"That's true", he laughed. "You can totally kick my ass now if I refuse to buy you an ice cream."

They laughed together, even though Samantha didn't quite find all the power she had that amusing, but only for that moment she was willing to forget about everything else out there.

Everything, except one thing.

"Fox...? How is mum...? And dad?", she asked, her eyes concerned.

Mulder's expression changed to one she couldn't really decipher. A weird mix of concern as well, and sorrow.

"Mum is fine. She will be thrilled to find out you are back."

She smiled at first but then she joined her brows as if silently asking him the question.

He sighed deeply.

"Dad… died last year."

"Oh, no…", she cried.

"I am so sorry, Samantha.", he said, caressing her hair as he shed another tear with her, over their deceased father. The memories of him cold and dead in his bathroom still haunted his memories and dreams often. However, he would leave the circumstances around Bill Mulder's death for another occasion.

"But… we can see mum soon.", he continued, trying to make that moment as happy as possible. "We will find a safe way to take you to see her. The boys, Scully, they can help us with it. She will be so happy, Samantha… she said you were… that you were gone. But I think she still believed deep inside that you would come back one day."

She answered with a smile and a nod, excited about the prospect of seeing their mother again after so many years and of finally being able to fully remember how she looked like, though her brows were still knit together over their father's news.

Samantha then sighed deeply, as if wanting to wash away all the sadness inside her over one of the thoughts she had wandering in her mind the most, since she had escaped.

"I… I am finally someone again, Fox. My identity. My memories and history. All my life is mine again."

"Yes…! yes it is.", he said under a chuckle. "You've always been _someone_ , though. Even if you were not Samantha."

He then came closer, making their foreheads touch and looking straight into her eyes like he always did when they were little and she was scared or sad about something, to calm her down and make sure of his presence there, that he would never leave.

"But you _are_ Samantha, and all of that, your identity, your history, they have always been yours and no one will _ever_ take this away from you again, I promise you. You are your own now, as it had always should have been, and it is going to stay that way, no matter what."

She hugged him tight around his neck, her embrace imbued with the silent words that were stuck in a ball inside her throat as she sobbed a bit, but she was able to tell him nonetheless in his mind, as he returned her hug just as intensely.

 _Thank you, Fox. Thank you._

After talking a little more, enjoying the thrill of their siblinghood regained after so long, Mulder stood up, tidying his robes and Samantha felt a deja vu sensation when he said they should go downstairs and tell the Wanderers about the news, even though he was pretty sure Scully was not able to hold such information from them up to that point.

"Sure. I would actually… really like to tell them about me. They've been helping me so much, too.", she said, standing up. "I would like to make them feel like I am not hiding anything from them."

"They would really appreciate that, Samantha."

"...Fox?"

"Yes?"

"Can you please still call me 'Sam'...?

"Oh…", he said, a little bit surprised - that was how started to call her on the very first night they've met, almost in a cynical way.

"I know.", she said, guessing his expression, after all about her finally having her identity back. "But I have to say I really like being called that. It is the first name someone... that _you_ called me out loud, after so many years as a nameless person. I grew very fond of it..."

Under her reasoning, he couldn't help the tender smile forming on his lips.

"Of course, Sam. I will let the others know."

"Thank you."

They left the room and when Sam realized he was not coming down the staircase behind her, she turned back to look at him.

"Aren't you coming…?", she asked, confused.

"I will join you in a minute."

 _Scully?_ , he called her, focusing hard to find her mind on the floor below.

 _Yes, Mulder?_

 _Can you come up here for a second, please?,_ he asked, being uncharacteristically, overly polite towards her. He could tell she noticed that, but she didn't comment.

In that brief second when they exchanged thoughts, Sam looked at Mulder and tilted her head sideways. But made no questions, stretching her arm over towards her brother, who held her hand between his and pressed it tenderly. She gave him another happy look before going downstairs.

Scully smiled at her on the way up. Sam returned it, so deeply thankful.

Reaching the second floor, she took a glimpse of Sam's room, its door open and shedding its light on the dark corridor, but it was empty.

"Over here", he called from the end of the hallway at her right, where he stared outside at the streetlamps illuminating the empty street outside, his hands in his pockets.

"What is it Mulder?", she asked, joining him in the dark, a dim light coming from the street through the large window, enough for them to see each other clearly. "Is everything alright?"

 _Everything is perfect._ , he answered back with Legilimency.

 _I am so very happy for you, Mulder. And for Samantha as well.,_ she said, carrying the conversation on like that as well.

 _Sam._

 _Oh?_ , she replied, confused.

 _She still wants to be called 'Sam'. Because that's how I called her when we first met last week._ , he explained, his mindvoice almost humming with his happiness.

 _I see. I am really happy for Sam.,_ she corrected. _And that she is finally back._

He sighed, his smile never fading. He half turned his head towards his right, to look at her with his hooded eyes and his characteristic half-smile.

 _I wouldn't have done that without you. You know that, don't you, Scully?_

 _As much as I would love to be that almighty, I am pretty sure you would have found a way to learn about her identity on your own as well._ , she answered, though her tone and her eyes looking up at him made it clear she was touched by his statement.

 _No, I would not. You were the one that first told me about aliens to begin with, and lead my quest towards the right direction since the very beginning._

He turned to fully face her and stepped closer in that way they had always been so comfort with doing only with each other. She faced him as well, her arms still crossed out of pure habit and not out of protection against his proximity.

He never thought Scully would actually make him believe, and not the other way around.

 _And as difficult and as frustrating as it's been sometimes, your goddamned strict rationalism and Muggle Science have saved me a thousand times over, and not only it helped to find my sister, but it was actually crucial to it._ , he confessed, his mindvoice as clear as if he was talking to her out loud and not in their secret, thought-made codes.

 _You kept me honest and you kept me away from the possibility of being disappointed again over another woman that could very much not be my sister. You made sure I would wait for the right answers, coming from the right places. From_ your _evidences._

Scully just stared up at him silently, her glassy blue eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. Mulder wasn't someone that would spill out his feelings like that frequently, even though they have known each other for so many years...

 _I will be forever grateful for what you've done, Scully. I owe you_ everything _._

...but whenever he did it, it would touch the very strings of her heart, even more this time for he was already reaching her very mind to tell her that.

 _I would have never be able to do this alone. Not without you._

Tears Scully could not control fell down her face for the second time that night, as she was completely out of words and thoughts for there were none that could've ever been said in that moment.

She just stepped forward and covered the small gap between them, pressing her face against his shoulder as they held each other close together. She smiled against him, his sandalwood scent filling in the spaces of her unspoken words.

After a moment, he pulled back from their embrace and held her face between his hands, watching a teardrop run down her bright expression.

Scully knew what he was going to do next, and that wouldn't be the first and much less the last time Fox Mulder would ever hold her and lean down to kiss her lips.

And she would let him, every time.

A strange pinch prickled the back of her neck, but she didn't really care about it, wrapping her arms around his neck as Mulder's words were still echoing in her mind like they were thoughts of her own, and his lips pressed softly against hers, sealing them inside her heart.


	7. Betrayal

_**Author's Notes:**  
Hello there! long time, no see - actually, the last update was in January, 2017 - but in fact, I've never stopped writing "Sam". I took so long to update because I was planning many things before hand, things that would require me to go back into the chapters to add / edit a lot of things. So I just decided to write everything and only post again when everything was tied up and done. _

_And today is this day. Thank you so very much for your patience and kindness so far!_

* * *

 _[three months later - April 2nd, 1996]_

 _The afternoon poured a warm light, filtered by the leaves so high they could very likely be touching the clouds. The smell of damp earth and luscious green was so strong it could have actually been relaxing._

 _But the jungle was deadly quiet._

 _One couldn't hear a single animal amongst the dense trees, not a bird's chirp, nor a monkey's scream, nor the soft steps of a jaguar. Something was clearly wrong, and there was no way of looking ahead through the tree trunks - they were too close together, the foliage acting like an Invisible Cloak to whatever it was covering._

 _Suddenly, the sound of something lurking around could be heard, faint and far, but it was there, deadly, coming closer…_

 _And closer…_

 _And closer…._

"Alright, Sam.", said Langly across the table, from behind all his annotations and maps. "What are you going to do next?"

"I will… I will….". Sam thought, as she took another apple and cinnamon cookie from the plate by her and thought carefully from behind her own papers, looking at Lua's sheet and slowly reading the words as she chewed - she was still getting the hang of reading after so many years, but she remembered most of it by now. She just needed a bit of practice.

A translucent illusion of a tiny forest rose in the middle of the large table, the charmed figurine of the robust character called Lua waiting in the middle of the see-through trees. If there was one small, but significant detail Langly absolutely loved about being a Wizard, was how his stories came to life so vividly with all the charms and Illusions - almost like the holograms that always showed up in his favorite shows and books growing up.

At last, Sam's expression went from concentrated to joyful as she found the solution to his question.

"Roll perception!"

"Good choice.", smiled Langly, as she did just that.

She rolled the dice, getting a disappointing 3 on them.

"Oh, man!", he said, surprised by Sam's bad luck. "Even though you were able to know something was coming for you in the jungle, you never saw it coming when a Minotaur - one of the blood-thirsty soldiers of the so-called President - came from behind you, swords held up in its monstrous hands!"

As he narrated, a figurine of the Minotaur he had just described showed up next to Lua and did just as Langly had commanded, as if he was an Illusion puppeteer. After a dramatic pause, he continued to narrate the outcome of Sam's roll.

"One of his blades fell on your shoulder like the toll of the Bell of Sorrows on a Funeral's Day, giving you 5 points of damage."

"Five!? Come on, Langly!", cried Sam. If Mulder was there to watch the campaign's unravel, he would definitely see a glimpse of her child-self coming back to the surface, just like he had seen so many times whenever he did something she disliked of in their childhood games.

"Take it easy Langly, she is still a beginner.", said Byers from the other table, a scolding tone in his voice as if he was telling his older child to stop teasing their younger sibling. It also had a hint of humor he couldn't hide.

"No easy-taking on beginners, Byers. Not with Lord Manhammer narrating this glorious adventure.", answered Langly in his usual dramatic ways whenever his RPG-self was around.

"Heh, Sammy would kick his bony blonde ass if it was real life", teased Frohike, nudging Byers' at his right side on the table they were next to.

"I would never hurt Langly!", Sam replied, taking the teasing seriously as she turned to face the two man behind her, a blush coming up her face - for the implication of hurting Langly, but also for the other pet name they all had started using lately. "I wouldn't hurt any of you, for that matter…"

Langly shot an ugly look towards Frohike and his ability to be as sensitive as a sandwich.

"He didn't mean it, Sam. He is just fooling around. We know you would never hurt any of us."

It was always hard for her to understand how they could joke around the fact she could kill people with the blink of an eye. However, she was coming to understand that their sense of humor was just... really odd. She could see why they were all her brother's friends, after all. Sam just made her best to control her urge to take a glimpse into their minds every time they would joke like that.

Before the silence that fell between Sam and the Wanderers became an awkward one, she watched as the men's notebooks buzzed with the usual message from Mulder, asking them to open the house.

Mulder and Scully soon showed up and Sam's complaints about Lord Manhammer's ways of mastering would have to be left for later, as she and Langly stood up and joined the group in the middle of the room. She placed herself by Mulder's right side and he greeted her as he smiled and placed his arm over her shoulders in a side hug that was so new for her, yet so familiar.

"How are you doing today, Sam?", asked Scully, looking at her from Mulder's left.

"I'm feeling well, Miss Scully. Better than ever, to be honest."

"Good.", the Healer answered, happy with it for now, leaving for later the more in-depth questions on how she was doing, and to check on her treatments as it was the routine.

All the progress Sam did during the latest three months since her arrival was evident to everyone - especially to the Wanderers who were with her for the most part of the day before Mulder and often Scully came in.

Besides the medicines and potions she would take daily for her blood conditions, Scully soon noticed that Sam would always feel less lethargic and weak after eating, so the Healer told her to eat a little every two hours instead of three as she had recommended at first, and telling Sam she should always have on her something to nibble.

Scully had had the theory that, maybe because Sam's magic worked so differently from the norm and plus her blood issues, it could mean her body would run out of energy way too quickly - which also explained why Sam was so thin, because her metabolism was way too fast.

So far, according to the Healer's opinion, her own theory seemed to be correct: while Sam still looked pale, she was not as ill-looking or feeling so tired all the time anymore now that her body was being able to absorb nutrients correctly and had enough energy to function properly.

"So, what is the plan so far?", Mulder asked, with Sam still close to him as he looked down at the scheme they had drawn with fine lines on parchment paper - the map of a property with a house in the middle, and a small grove around it.

"It is actually fairly simple.", answered Byers. "At first, we thought of making the house like ours, but that idea was quickly discarded because that would take an absurd, long time to perform. And it would require the owner of the house - in this case, Mrs Mulder - to participate in the casting, but that is out of question exactly because of the time and effort it takes. We three were _drained_ when it was done, and we are three, and younger. So that definitely won't do."

"So we thought, that less is more.", Sam explained, using the same words Byers had used to describe the plan earlier, when they were all discussing about it. "Maybe using more simple spells, but many of them together."

"Exactly. The house is already guarded by a Fidelius since… well, since the incident with Mulder Senior." continued Langly, glancing at Mulder. Sam had already been told about the circumstances of her father's death, but he spoke of it carefully anyway. "However, we will also guard it with a ton of Concealing, Protection, Shielding and Alarm spells and everything else we can think of, just to be sure. And of course, wait outside to watch and cover you while you are in the house."

"I could help with the spells, too.", added the youngest Mulder sibling, hopeful. "I would just need to see them being cast first."

The Healer looked at her.

"I am not sure about that, Sam. As you know, you can't drain yourself. Even more if…", she hesitated, something Scully didn't usually do.

"If what, Miss Scully?", asked Frohike.

"If we need to fight people out of there.", answered Mulder in a low voice, following Scully's line of thought.

"That won't be a problem either", continued Byers. "We will be out of there at the slightest sign of distress. That's also the reason why we will be guarding outside."

"Alright… we should get started then,", intervened Byers, looking up at the golden clock on the wall. "and get it ready as soon as we can."

 _[the following night - April 3rd, 1996]_

In the end, Sam was not able to help cast the spells around Mrs Mulder's house: she obviously couldn't show up before everything was set, besides the fact Scully was really against the idea anyway. Sam felt a bit bad because she really wanted to help and make something useful on her behalf instead of just sit and wait like she had done most of her life.

But that's precisely what she had to do as she just waited for the sign, sitting next to Mulder in the Wanderers' main room as she ate apples - soon they were gone, and she saw it was still 10:27 PM as she tossed the apple cores away with a wave of her hand, making them fall straight into one of the garbage cans under the nearest desk.

It wasn't helping her either, the fact she had to wear boots as it would be very cold when they Apparated in their mother's property, located more towards the north - Sam spent two decades without having to wear shoes at all, and at that moment they bothered her to no end.

"It is going to be alright.", Mulder told her gently, noticing his sister shaking her leg in anticipation and her hands fidgeting and twisting the front of her favorite dark-red robes again after a while, as she tried not to overthink and to take her mind away from the weird sensation around her feet. "I've already talked to mum about you. That we have found you, that it is _really you_ this time. No need to be nervous, Sam. And she knows you needed time to recover."

"I know…", she finally spoke, after a moment of silence. "It is just that I can't help thinking… or asking myself if she is going to recognize me or _like me at all_ … or if I am going to recognize her, too. It's been so long, and I've tried to remember her, and I do but sometimes… sometimes I think I'm just filling in the missing parts myself, you know…?"

"Well, you will see her soon enough! And don't be silly. Of course she will like you, she is our mum. Also, who wouldn't like you?", he said, giving her a warm smile.

She felt her face go as red as her robes, still very unused to praises, or even thinking of herself as likeable at all.

"She is so excited to see you again…!", her brother added.

"I am too…", she let a nervous laugh out, turning the edge of her sleeve between her fingers. "Even if it doesn't look like it."

"It is okay to feel nervous. I would be worried if you _weren't_ ", Mulder said in one of his half-smiles. He then said, "Oh! I almost forgot. I have something for you."

Sam gave him her usual confused/curious expression as she watched him reach inside his dark robes and take out a small book covered in black leather. He offered it to her.

"A communication notebook, you've seen us using them a lot. It's easy - you can reach out everyone at once, or only one of us if you write the name before the message. I thought it would be useful. And well, you are part of the team now.", he told her, a wide smile on his face as he tapped his breast pocket where his own book was.

Sam picked it up, looking at its smooth cover with her name engraved in silver on it, and at the blank pages, before turning her eyes up to her brother.

"Thank you… This means a lot to me, Fox."

"I knew you would like it.", the Auror said, happy that she liked the gift but also glad he was able to help keep her anxiety at bay for a bit. "By the way... I've been wanting to ask you, how is the training going?"

"Oh!", she said, the excitement instantly ringing in her voice. "It's being very nice so far! I don't do much on Byers' classes yet, it is mostly theory as you know, with creatures and spell names and functions. I can't push myself too far for now, with my powers… but I am still able to practice some things - Expelliarmus, Protego, Impedimenta. This kind of stuff, nothing really fancy, but still interesting."

"Byers and Frohike told Scully and I it's been a lot easier for you to produce your spells now that you know their names and functions", added Mulder.

"Yes. I only have to think of the spell's name and direction I want it to go, and it happens almost immediately. Well... it is a lot easier the dummies don't really move yet... Brewing Potions and learning new charms is being fun too, Frohike is kind of grumpy and tough on me, but I've been learning a lot."

"He just knows your potential, Sam. He told me you are pretty good already at brewing potions from memory, that's pretty impressive for someone who never had formal training in their life."

"It is only three or four potion recipes, and they are pretty simple anyway.", Sam clarified, a little embarrassed.

Mulder didn't insist, not wanting to upset his sister, which would be very counterproductive to the conversation's main goal. He just listened to her as she continued to tell him about her academic adventures with the Wanderers.

As she did it, Mulder observed how she seemed so excited about all these new discoveries - how she was being able to make her mind work with things that were not terrifying voices telling her what to do, but with things that were interesting and useful to her, and also how she was being able to use her powers not because she was being forced to or being "tested" on them, but because she _wanted to_.

After elaborating further about some of Frohike's other classes - Charms and Transfiguration -, she made a pause as if thinking about something else for a second. She then turned to her brother.

"Was it like that when you and Miss Scully went to school together? All the classes and learning?"

"That's only part of the experience, I would say.", Mulder said, leaning back into his own armchair by her side. "There are other things, like being at school itself, interacting with other kids. But yes, it was pretty much like that. I have to say it was _extremely tedious_ most of the time, being a child sitting in a classroom for hours in the mornings. Scully had it worse than I, I think - she was always complaining about how all was too easy, in her opinion. And how Muggle school subjects were completely ignored. At the time I thought she was only being dramatic but now as an adult I think she's probably right about that. She usually is."

"Langly has been teaching me about the Muggle side and their lifestyle. It is… very different. Once I asked him what does the Muggle school look like, what do they learn, and he said it is 'mostly super hard things that are rarely used in adult life, like trigo… ' _trigo-normetry_ '? I think that's what it is called. I'm not really sure what that means, but he seemed really angry about that anyway."

The oldest Mulder sibling laughed.

"Trigonometry, that's Maths. It is similar to Arithmancy... in a Muggle way."

"Oh... I see why now, Byers showed me a little about Arithmancy. It doesn't look very… _friendly_."

"The most important question however, is what House would you be in? Probably you would be the black sheep and be a Hufflepuff. Or worse: _a Ravenclaw_!", Mulder said, being unnecessarily dramatic.

"The boys told me about them. And I vaguely remember something about them from before the abduction… but what does sheep have to do with them?"

The Auror laughed again, harder this time. He couldn't help, as it was always funny - and cute, in a way - when Sam took things very literally.

She blushed a little, a bit embarrassed.

"No, no, that's okay, don't be shy about it. It is a Muggle saying, actually. Being 'the black sheep' is just a way of saying you are different from everyone in your family, or from other people in general. Our family is traditionally Slytherins, if you were something else you would be different from all of us."

She made an expression of finally understanding what he meant.

"Do you think so? What House do you think I would be in then?", she asked.

"It is hard to tell, it is the Sorting Hat that gets to choose it. And it is also hard for me to guess since you would be… well, different from what you are now, if you had the chance to attend the school with us… But", Mulder quickly added, not wanting to bring the conversation's mood down", as the way you are today, maybe you would get to go to Gryffindor with Scully. You both are very brave, about so many things."

Unaware of Scully's own abduction, Sam thought he was only talking about the Healer trusting her to go inside her mind during her power and magic test, months prior. Or how intimidating Dana Scully was when she was angry or provoked.

"Our parents would probably want to disown you for being a Gryff though.", he chuckled. "But you would be in good hands with Scully in there."

Mulder then wondered for a moment how it would have been like, accompanying his little sister to Diagon Alley to buy textbooks and tools they would need, watching as her measurements were taken for her first uniform set, following her as she chose an owl pet to send letters home - or maybe, he thought, she would chose a rabbit instead, as her favorite Animagi form revealed them. He imagined for a second how it would be like, holding Samantha's hand as she climbed aboard the train for the first time.

Would she have many friends? Or would she be the _"Spooky Sammy"_ to the other kids as well?

He wondered if Sam would have liked to meet the grumpy, but kind and friendly little child Scully had been, or the tall, eccentric Hufflepuff girl who used to tag along with him and his partner later on by the third year. He was about to mention her, but before he could elaborate the words, both of them felt their notebooks buzzing in their pockets.

 _All is clear. You two can come over._ _  
_ _Scully_

They were all able to recognize each other's hand writing by now, but Mulder knew Scully signed because she was aware Sam would now be reading her message too.

Putting their books back into their pockets, the Mulder siblings stood up almost at the same time. The house was set to close itself after they left. Sam held her brother's hand, and he felt it trembling. He gave it a soft squeeze in a reassuring manner.

"Ready?", he asked his little sister.

"Yes.", was all she managed to answer, her heart about to burst through her chest in excitement and anticipation, all the light mood from the conversation vanishing into her anxiety.

A snap and a second later, they found themselves landing on a very thin coat of frost, at the base of a set of stairs leading to a large, white house with a porch in the front. The orange-yellow light coming from the windows was warm and inviting, like a beacon in the cold, cold night. Mulder knew they were inside the perimeter of protection spells the Wanderers and Scully had set and that made him feel safe, but he still focused on his surroundings, alert to any sign of movement in the dark. He saw nothing.

Mulder looked around, his eyes moving through the trees around his mother's house, but it was his mind that was actually searching through the branches and darkness.

 _Scully...?_

 _We are right here, Mulder_., said the Healer's mindvoice in his head. She sounded clear, which meant she was probably very close or seeing him. _We are well hidden. Don't worry - and don't worry about us, either._

Her voice was confident, so Mulder tried to let his worries aside, trusting his partner and his friends to cover them; still holding Sam's hand in his, they started to climb the small set of stairs towards the house.

When they got to the front door, Mulder knocked. He felt Sam tighten her grip on his hand.

 _It's going to be alright, Sammy._ , he told her, mind to mind. _I'm here with you._

She didn't have the time to answer, for a silhouette moved behind the door's glass and soon an older lady wrapped in dark, fine robes and with silky, white hair opened the door, revealing anticipation and fear in her light eyes that were just the same as her daughter's in color, but more alike her son's in shape.

She was just like in Sam's memories, so faint she thought she had been making them up - except in them, her mother was twenty years younger.

Teena Mulder didn't speak.

She kept silent, framed by the light coming from inside the house. She extended a hand towards the young woman's face and then the other, tracing her features and the thin scars on there with her thumbs. The older woman seemed to be searching for something in the girl's face that she could not yet point out.

She then let her hands go of Sam's face and held her hands, gently pulling her inside the house, wanting to see her under the full, warm light. Mulder came in right behind her and stood next to his sister: just a little taller than her, both bearing the same bold jawlines, small chins, hooded eyelids and round lips; their noses were also the same, even though the young woman's was thinner, but still so alike to Mulder's.

Mrs Mulder already knew that her son had made sure to check if the girl was indeed Samantha, and that everything about her identity had been clarified and proved. But only by looking at her children together, side by side, Mrs Mulder was finally able to believe it and she didn't have to say a word.

The Mulder siblings saw it on their mother's face, in the tears she shed and on her arms slowly opening to hold her long, lost daughter in a tight hug at first, and then gently waving at Mulder to join in her joyful embrace.

Her little girl was finally home. She was finally holding her two children again.

In the living room, Sam sat across her mother and managed to tell her about her escape, and how she was able to find Mulder - how he had been calling her for years, without knowing they somehow had a distant, mental connection. How he and his friends did everything to help her and take care of her, and were still doing it.

She tried her best to leave the heavier details for later, for she didn't want to upset her mother about her ordeals in the Purity Control - not in that moment, when they were finally reunited -, but she couldn't really hide what they had done to her as it was literally all over her face and thin body.

She was not able to lie when her mother asked about the scars on her face and fingers - the only parts of her skin showing -, and soon discovering they extended to her entire arms.

"Oh, Samantha…", Mrs Mulder said, her eyes filling with tears at the sight, caressing her arms softly as if by doing that, she would be able to take away all the pain that had been inflicted to her child, taking all of it to her own - she would do that without hesitation, if only she could. "My little girl…. I'm so, _so sorry_ … what you must have gone through in this people's hands..."

It was more than evident now to Mrs Mulder why Samantha had needed weeks and weeks to recover before risking a visit - she didn't even want to think how her daughter must have looked like when she first got to Mulder's place, three months prior.

Sam looked up at Mulder, who was leaning by the fireplace as he watched their reunion. He was alert, unable to sit or let his guard down, but he was paying full attention to the conversation nonetheless, sad about his mother's reaction, and the reason behind it.

"It is all in the past now, mum.", Sam finally managed to answer, with her thin, low voice, repeating what her brother, Scully and the Wanderers would always tell her. "I am fine. I have you, and Fox and his… my friends now, to help me. And I am here right now, with you."

"And I am so thankful, so happy you are here... You have been so brave and strong, my love. Stronger than anyone I've ever known in my entire life.", Mrs Mulder said. "Though I hate what happened to you, sweetheart, I am proud you were able to find a way out of it."

She gently placed her hand on Sam's face, and even if her eyes looked sad, still mourning her only daughter's lost, painful childhood and youth, her lips smiled sincerely and widely because her child was alive.

"You fought your way out back to your brother... to your family. We all missed you so terribly… Your father would've been so thrilled to see you again... I am sure that, wherever he is now, he is happy you are here with us once more."

Sam felt touched by her mother's words, and she also felt a small twist in her chest, like it always happened whenever she thought of her father and how she would never have the chance to see him again. She held back her tears, trying not to ruin that amazing moment.

But the moment was interrupted, anyway.

She didn't really know how she knew it - it was almost like there was a sound in the air, thin and almost inaudible. But it was not a real sound. It was a feeling, the same eerie, whispery sensation that makes the tiny hairs on the back of one's neck go up, and the same dark, silent feeling someone is grinning right behind you in a room with no lights on.

" _Something was clearly wrong_.", the memory of Langly's narration voice from the day before came to her mind. " _It was there, deadly, coming closer…_

 _"Closer… "_

Sam was paralyzed by fear for two seconds that were enough for Mulder to see her terrified expression.

 _"And closer…."_

But before he could say or do anything, they saw something swimming in the air into the living room, coming swiftly and soundless and bright from the back of the house - it was a Patronus. It took a moment for Mulder to see it was neither Scully's golden eagle, nor Byer's Irish Setter, Langly's weasel nor Frohike's octopus.

When the silver-blue bottlenose dolphin spoke, it had a thin, young, alarmed female voice.

A distant, very familiar one.

"Leave the house immediately! They are coming and they are going to kill all of you if you don't leave right now! They want Samantha back. Hide, now!"

As suddenly as it had appeared, it dissolved in the air. But the message was clear, and whoever was its sender, they would not take any chances. His wand already held up, Mulder quickly searched for Scully outside. Her mind was far, but it was there and he still could feel it.

 _Leave! You and the boys, leave this place now!_

 _We're leaving right away,_ she answered, immediately understanding the urgency in his mindvoice, hers sounding faint to him with the lack of eye contact and the distance between them.

"W-what's happening, Fox…?", asked his mother, confused and scared.

"We are in danger here, mum. We must leave now. Hold my hand.", he offered his hands to both his mother and sister, who quickly held it and a snap and a second later, the warm lit room was deadly silent as if no one had been there at all.

Outside, the night was cold as it was quiet.

There was no one anymore in Teena Mulder's front yard, but a couple of minutes later, two tall figures Apparated among the trees right at the same place an invisible Scully would have been a moment earlier. Watching the empty house, one of them pulled out their wand and a swish later, the purple-blue light of a cigarette sparkled in the darkness.

"Someone told them we were coming.", said a man's voice.

"That's clear enough to see, Alex, thank you very much.", said an older man's voice, his irritation clear under the blue smoke coming out of his lips as he spoke.

"I've already told the group to retreat, as they are not needed anymore.", reported the younger man.

"And where is she?"

"I tried to contact her, sir. More than once. No success."

The older man grinned under the dim, blue light of his cigarette.

"I guess we have our traitor, then. Who would have known.", he said.

"I knew she wasn't trustworthy since the start."

The old man made an impatient sound.

"Don't give me that now, when everything is already fucked up. You've always told me she was more than fit for the job. And she had proved she was indeed fit, more than once."

After a long pause - almost to the darkness in front of him than to the man standing behind - he said:

"Find her."

The young man Disapparated right away, leaving the old Smoking Man alone, hidden by the trees and the blue light of his cigarette shining brighter as he smoked in. A silent trail of smoke was left behind in the dark when he Disapparated away as well a few minutes later, leaving the night as undisturbed as it had been before his arrival.

 ** _[END OF "SAM", ARC 1]_**


	8. The Dolphin Patronus

**_"SAM", ARC 2:_**

 ** _"E753"_**

 _[three months prior - the First]_

 _Something didn't feel quite right._

 _The sand should have been cold beneath her feet, along the wind around her, and the grains of sand should be hurting her skin as they mercilessly hit her face. But she felt nothing, nothing at all._

 _Something was really off about that place._

 _Yet, her legs would move her forward, further away towards the darkness and the unknown without questioning, and if it wasn't for the whistle of the wind and the crushing sound of the sand under her steady, certain steps, she would think she was actually underwater due to the numbness, the darkness and her hair flowing around her face like a halo of fire._

 _Where was she going?_

 _She certainly seemed to know her destination, but only her body seemed to know it, as if she had taken that path a thousand times over and her body muscles and her subconscious were only taking her there by instinct - but she had no recollection of that place whatsoever._

 _She started to panic and yet, she couldn't stop walking either, her body would not respond to her own wishes._

 _It was almost as if her own blood and bones were being attracted by a powerful magnet, and she couldn't help but just keep walking in that direction._

 _Steadily._  
 _  
_Slowly.

 _Patiently._

 _She realized she was bound to that path, like a prisoner._

 _Without will, without power in a place she didn't know, towards somewhere else she had no idea where it was, attracted by some kind of strange, dark instinct that was not coming from her - she knew it didn't belong to her._

 _Her panic increased and she just wanted to scream, but just like her free-will, her voice was trapped within her; she wanted to cry but her tears wouldn't come out and she felt she would never be able to cry._

 _She would never be able to cry, ever again._

 _She was trapped inside herself, forever._

With a violent jerk and immediately sitting up, Scully woke up breaking a cold sweat, her breathing as quick and unsteady as if she had just been running a marathon and not deeply asleep in her bed.

Street lamps shed stripes of light inside her dark bedroom, and it took her a moment to realize Kevin was standing by her bed - deep concern, almost fear, darkening his round face as he looked at her.

He climbed the bed to sit by her side, pressing his small hand on her back and making slow circles, kindly saying: "I am here with you, mum; it was just a dream; I am here.", just like she had done to him so many times before, when their roles were reversed. He had probably been the reason why she had woken up in first place, and she felt both glad and relieved by his presence and company.

She pressed her shaky hands against her own face, warm as if she had a fever, trying to understand what had just happened, trying to make sense of her own weird, vivid dreams, and she felt her skin damp not only with her perspiration, but also with tears.

She understood then why Kevin looked so terrified when she woke up and now, trying to calm her down.

She had been crying in her sleep.

 _[present - April 3rd, 1996]_

The dreams she had been having lately were nothing like the situation she found herself in that moment, but Scully couldn't help but think of them anyway as Mulder's mindvoice spoke in her head all of a sudden - sounding not just urgent, but also terrified.

 _Leave! You and the boys, leave this place now!_

The same sensation of panic and helplessness from those recurrent, repetitive dreams came back to her. However, she didn't hesitate a second to draw out her notebook and touch it quickly with her wand, sending a message that would reverberate to the Wanderers, who were hidden in scattered places around the property - that was the sign they all had agreed with, for it was safer than sending out red sparks in the air, under the risk of revealing their locations to the enemy if any was around and close enough to see them.

She waited a few seconds so the Wanderers could get to their house first, then she Disapparated away and left behind the cold, dark grove in front of Mrs Mulder's house.

A blink of an eye later and she was inside the dimly-lit main room with the Lone Wanderers.

She pulled away her Invisibility Cloak, disheveling her hair in the process, and looked around but no one else was there with them, besides her.

"Where is Mulder and Sam? And their mother…?", the Healer asked.

Folding his own Cloak over his arm, Byers was about to say something when the answer came right away when their pockets buzzed, Mulder's bold handwriting showing on a page of each of their notebooks.

 _We are fine._ _  
_ _We will be there with you in a minute._

And just as promised, Mulder and Sam were soon back in the house. Sam had barely arrived and immediately took her boots off, tossing them to a corner, glad to finally be able to get rid of them. She pulled out a small chocolate bar and started to eat it.

"Left my mother somewhere safe. Another place we got, after my father's death", explained Mulder.

"Wouldn't it be safer to bring her over here?", asked Byers, concerned.

"No one knows about that place, and it is heavily protected and hidden under Fidelius. That's the other reason why we got it. She wanted to be able to hide... if she had to.", the Auror explained, not particularly happy his mother was right to feel that way.

"Okay, good.", said Frohike, sitting down as if he was finally able to breath properly now that all the danger had passed, throwing his own Cloak on the table next to him. "But what happened back there, Scully? We were all there watching, there was no one around, and no one was inside the perimeter of the spells either."

"Yeah, everything seemed just fine.", added Langly. "Why send us back?"

"Because Mulder told me to do so.", answered the Healer as she turned to her partner, wanting to know as much as the Wanderers what made him so terrified when nothing wrong seemed to be happening back at Mrs Mulder's.

"I have no idea how, but they knew we were there.", Mulder added, and then he explained about the strange Patronus that showed up and what it had said to them. Then, he looked at Sam. "And you felt something was wrong too, didn't you? Just before the Patronus showed up, your expression just... kind of changed."

Everyone looked at the youngest Mulder sibling, wanting to hear her side of the story.

"I don't know how I knew they were coming, I just... knew it.", she told them, crumpling the chocolate paper and tossing it to the nearest can. "I had this weird… terrifying feeling, and that's when the Patronus appeared, saying they were really coming to take me back."

Silence filled the room for a second.

"It could be your magical abilities working subconsciously.", said Scully, a hand up on her chin, thoughtful, trying to bring some explanation to it. "Maybe you are able to feel their presence because they used to be around you all the time, so you know how they... _feel like_ when they are close, if that makes sense."

"It could be… Anyway, I am glad we escaped in time.", said the youngest Mulder sibling as she sat down too, not really hiding the horror she felt over the prospect of being taken back to the Purity Control.

"Absolutely.", intervened Byers. "But that still doesn't explain who sent the message. I can't remember anyone I know who has a dolphin Patronus?"

"I think that person might know me. The voice sounded very familiar", said Mulder, thinking hard on who that could be, as he watched the Dark Arts detectors move and buzz softly on their shelves, half of them useless now due to the constant presence of Scully and Sam in the house.

"Yeah, but a question that's more terrifying to me than ' _who sent the message_?' is ' _how did they know we were there_?'", added Langly, crossing his arms and leaning on one of the armchairs next to him. "The protection spells we made would be able to detect the Patronus, even if the caster was outside the perimeter. "

"And don't forget about the Fidelius, the caster wouldn't be able to send the Patronus at all because they wouldn't know _where the house would be_ in first place.", Frohike completed the question. "This shit is getting weirder by the minute."

As if reacting to what Frohike had just said, Mulder felt the vibration of a new message in his chest pocket - the only notebook in the room to do that.

They all observed as he brought a hand up to his dark robes to press against the pocket, looking around as if to be sure everyone was in the room - which made no sense at all because he knew very well all the Wanderers and Scully and Sam were there with him. It could only be someone.

They all looked back at him, confused.

"Is everything alright, Mulder?", asked his partner.

"Yes… Yes it is.", he answered vaguely, pulling the small notebook and opening it to quickly read the message, knowing who it was from, even before reading it. "Apparently… Skinner wants a date."

" _What_? But how...?", started Byers, confusion deepening in his expression.

"I gave him a book connected to mine a while ago, just in case I needed to talk to him urgently, or the other way around. He never used it before. Seems we do have an emergency, now.", Mulder said, a hint of sarcasm in his latest sentence.

"Are you sure this is safe, man?", inquired Frohike. "I mean, after we've just went through, this could be some kind of trap."

"No one else but us and him knows about these.", Mulder said, bringing the notebook up in his hand, shaking it a little. "And as I said, I gave one to him personally, for this specific end. I will be fine. Also, I am not going alone."

 _Ready for a romantic stroll at midnight, Scully?,_ he looked at the Healer, who was watching everything with her arms crossed, leaning against one of the tables.

 _It is not midnight yet.,_ she simply answered as she silently walked to him, her Auror side kicking in as she was as intrigued by the message and its timing as Mulder was.

"We will tell you if all is okay when we get there.", said Mulder, and then he told them where Skinner wanted to meet them - one of the big parks, closed at that hour and full of trees, which meant cover from curious eyes, Muggle or not.

 _Please, be careful._ , Sam told Mulder, mind-to-mind, looking up at her brother with concern in her eyes.

 _We will._ , he answered his little sister, looking back at her in a reassuring way.

Soon Mulder and Scully found themselves among trees - the second time for the Healer-Auror that night, and she automatically went fully alert just like she had been in her watch at Mrs Mulder's place, less than fifteen minutes before.

Walking as silently as their formal training had taught them to and partially undercovered by the drizzle, they looked around for any signs of Skinner, or signs of anything else, but it wasn't longer until they finally spot something that made both Special Aurors raise their wands and stop instantly, several feet away.

It wasn't the silhouette of the tall, bald man facing the opposite way that made them incredibly nervous - it was the thin string of blue smoke coming from behind the tree he was standing next to.

"Sir?", asked Scully from exactly where she was, her wand up and ready to fight. "Are you alright?"

She would rather not believe right away her boss and former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was now working for the wrong side for he, in fact, could be in danger just like they were.

Skinner turned around at Scully's voice. The Aurors couldn't see that through the darkness, but the Assistant Director of the Department of Mysteries wasn't surprised to see Scully there when it was only Mulder he had called.

"Yes, Miss Scully. You and Mulder can put your wands down, no one is here to attack you.", he commanded, as he also couldn't clearly see, but just knew they were both holding their wands up towards him.

"And who is there with you, Sir?", asked Mulder, not moving an inch from where he was.

They saw the cigarette fly to the ground as the unknown person tossed it away, and then they saw them move around Skinner to stand by his side.

It clearly wasn't the Smoking Cigarette Man - it wasn't a man at all, to begin with.

As if they were one, the Special Aurors' wands glowed, shedding light on the two silhouettes in front of them and it was enough to see their faces.

"Sorry about the cigarette, I'm really trying to quit.", said - now, unmistakable - Special Auror Monica Reyes.

Mulder and Scully exchanged glances, even Legilimency escaping from them in their surprise. It was not everyday a former school friend - and a little beyond that, for Scully - would make such a reappearance in someone's life, and in such context.

Mulder turned his eyes to look again at Auror Reyes, his wand falling down to his side. Scully did the same, however she still kept on alert.

"Before anything else, we need to get out of here", Skinner glanced around, as he took his notebook from his pocket, opened it and tapped it with his wand. "More as a precaution we are not being watched or followed. We will meet you two there."

A snap sound echoed in the air and both Skinner and Reyes were gone. Mulder checked the meeting place in the message he got and showed it to Scully. He then tapped a message to the Wanderers and his sister, telling they were okay and where they were going.

A second later and they were both inside a dark room in an old, abandoned building, illuminated only by the poor street lights coming from outside through the dirty window. They were silently glad Skinner chose an indoor location this time, for the cold rain was starting to get merciless. Skinner quickly conjured a couple of candles floating around them, not enough to draw attention from anyone passing by, but bright enough so they could see each other's faces.

"It was you who warned us.", said Mulder, cutting the silence in the room and going straight to the point as he and Scully carefully covered the distance between them.

It wasn't a question.

"Yes.", Reyes answered promptly.

"How did you know we were there at all?", Scully asked. "The house was protected under spells, under Fidelius. How is that even possible…?"

"It happened before your father was killed, years ago", she said looking at Mulder. "they knew you would probably want to hide it, to protect your parents. So, they found a way to put a Location Spell in it to keep an eye on them and on you. Before the Fidelius. That's how we all could still see and interact with it. The protection spells you performed were also easy for them to dodge after that..."

"' _We_ '? ' _Them_ '?", asked Mulder. "What do you mean...?"

"I was with _them_ , Fox _._ " Reyes started. "The Purity Control."

The Aurors' wands immediately pointed at Reyes' throat, Scully's wand just a few inches away of accidentally stabbing her. Monica stood there looking at them, and didn't move nor reacted at all.

But it was evident it was being very hard for her not to.

"For _Merlin's sake_ , put those wands down!", commanded Skinner once more. "Do you think I would have brought you two here to be killed, after she warned you exactly to save you all _from being killed in first place_? Think, Aurors. _Think_!"

Against their instincts, both Mulder and Scully put their wands down and waited for Monica's explanation, mostly out of respect and trust they had on their boss than anything else.

"I _was_ with them.", she continued as if they had not interrupted her, emphasizing the past tense in the word she had used. "But I can't say I was ever _with_ them, to begin with."

"What does that is even supposed to mean?", asked Mulder, harshly.

"I was with them because seven years ago, Mr. Skinner asked me to do so.", she explained, not at all intimidated by Mulder's behaviour. "To bring in information from the Smoking Man's side while they believed I was giving them information about the Ministry and its people in return."

"Bring what kind of information…?", asked Scully, still not entirely convinced.

"Information about the abductions.", interfered the Assistant Director, on Monica's behalf. "And about the underground rumors that many of the Muggle kids and adults who were disappearing back then and now were not because You-Know-Who - or Death Eaters after his fall - were taking them."

Both Mulder and Scully mentally rolled their eyes - they always thought it was such a childish thing, not calling the evil by the name it had over the fear of it. But they ignored that and kept listening closely.

"During the early 1980's, I helped out underground resistances against the Dark Lord as much as I could, investigating kidnappings and murders, and it was clear to me something was not fitting; the evidences I gathered were clashing and were completely opposite from each other: kidnappings or attacks by the Dark Followers were always violent, with physical evidences of fight, destruction and / or bodies left behind. On the other hand, homes where abductions took place were always left intact, as if nothing had been there at all."

"Like when my sister was taken."

"Exactly. Your sister's case was very controversial back in '75 because of that, and because of your father's job at the Ministry; your parents were lucky they were not prosecuted for her disappearance due to the lack of evidences, even if someone had used magic to get inside the house."

"Well, that isn't really an M-File, right? Let's say it is probably less about luck and more about my father's influence that played a part on that", added Mulder.

"Yes, definitely.", agreed Skinner.

"Which also doesn't really explain _why_ Samantha was taken.", added Scully. "We know it was mostly Muggles that were taken, and the Mulder family isn't Muggle."

Monica sighed, in what seemed to be an odd mix of pity and exhaustion.

"We will get there.", she simply said.

"Yes…", Skinner added. He then continued. "Well… Samantha's case was very big as you know, and it was one of the abductions that brought a lot of attention to this kind of crime, and that's when some people noticed how odd they were in comparison to the attacks that had the hand of the Dark Lord in them. I saw and collected evidences, and I knew the rumors could be telling the truth, but couldn't really do much until the end of 1988, when I assumed as an Assistant Director at the D.o.M. and I finally saw the opportunity to really do something about it."

"That's when he asked me to meet him. In 1989, before your arrival at the Ministry.", told Monica. "I was already working there for a while, at the Muggle Crimes and Magical Crimes Against or Among Muggles. Skinner sent me a message, and told me he needed me for this very specific, off-the-records mission. He had secretly gathered statements from victims and enough evidences in his previous investigations to tell the abductees were being taken somewhere to be experimented with - Muggles and Muggle-Borns, Squibs, and sometimes Wizards and Witches considered 'pure bloods' were taken; sometimes returning with powers, or different powers that had never manifested before, but more than often, they were never seen again, specially the Muggles and Muggle-Borns. Thousands were taken and returned, or killed. Mr Skinner noticed the pattern, and he had a few clues and statements pointing out to a group, led by 'C.G.B. Spender' - Carl Gerhard Bush Spender, or the 'Smoking Man', as he is mostly known as."

The name "Spender" rang in a familiar sound to both Aurors. But they left that for another moment.

"Why are they experimenting on _people_?", asked Mulder, looking at both Reyes and Skinner. Even though he already had an answer, he wanted to see what they had to say about that. He had secret hopes Sam was just somehow misinterpreting the facts and the truth was not as horrifying as the evidences she carried in her magic and body, inside and out.

"Spender had always agreed with all the bullshit agenda of 'Blood Purity' and 'Wizardry Superiority', said Skinner. "That is no secret, actually."

"But in his opinion,", continued Reyes. "Voldemort is a vulgar, obvious moron: causing way too much fuss and leaving way too much signs behind, and, in Spender's opinion, not doing anything that would really 'help the Wizard Community to prevail over Muggles' in the end. No, Spender sees himself as some kind of classy crusader who is above all these sloppy, blood-stained murder scenes. He works in the shadows like Grindelwald used to, and started it by abducting Muggle children from their beds to 'improve' them. Make them, as he used to tell me, 'worthy of something'. "

Monica had an expression of disgust, her quiet outrage so strong her last words came out shaky.

The Aurors were able catch right there a glimpse of how the last seven years must have been for their kind, former Hufflepuff friend. Both felt bad for her, and also sick in the stomach for Monica had just confirmed Sam's statements and theories they wanted so hard to be just a bad, bad dream.

"Fortunately - if there is any 'fortunate' thing in this story _at all_ \- they stopped taking children way before I joined the Purity Control external groups. Because…", Reyes let out a humorless laugh of disbelief, "because their death rate was _way too high_. All the documents I was able to put my hands on said they were still abducting people but all adults, and due to the high rate of deaths among them as well, they decided to take a step back on the experiments beyond level 4 - very, very rarely they stopped beyond level 5, I've seen cases like this in the documents. Knowing abductees were coming back still alive, though in critical conditions, I was convinced this was their true idea, after all, they were 'improving' them just like they had planned, though not as far as they wished to."

She then looked at Scully for a second, as if she wanted to add something, but decided not to.

"But why would they do that? The P.C., 'Spender'... they apparently wanted a perfect, powerful... 'hybrid' at all costs. That's the whole point behind these experiments", said Scully. "That does not make sense, though I really want to believe they at least are not experimenting on children anymore."

"That's precisely why I think it really is the truth - how will they get to their 'perfect pure wizard' if their subjects keep dying like flies?", explained Reyes. "And I saw a good part of the documentation regarding this. Since they didn't involve anything they really wanted to hide from us of the external groups, I was able to easily get them a long time ago."

Mulder and Scully exchanged a brief look as they were both overwhelmed and almost numb by the amount of information given to them at that point. However, their minds were at full steam, the facts actually starting to fill in the gaps they had in their own mental maps of the abductions and its mysteries.

It all explained why they were never _really_ threatened in their own investigations about abductions, because Skinner was definitely covering them more than they ever thought he was. And why all the abductees they had the chance to meet were adults and why they had thought abductees only went up until level 4.

It explained why Scully's abduction was never fully investigated - Skinner had shut the case down to _protect them_. They went ballistic at their boss back then when he announced the investigations were closed, but now it made perfect sense. And it explained why Monica had kind of disappeared for the last years; even though she was listed as an Auror for the Ministry, she was rarely seen around - even the rumours of Reyes not being reliable made sense now.

They would have continued with the list in their heads, of all the things that started to fill in the gaps now that they were being given the information that had been denied to them so far, but Monica continued her story.

"Mr Skinner wanted me in this investigation because he couldn't do it himself, he was a known face by them. I, on the other hand, was unknown to Spender and his group and I was 'young and promising', as they said to me themselves more than once, qualities they appreciate a lot.", she made a strange face, something between anger, indignation and disgust. "And since Mr Skinner was very aware of where my loyalty was, he thought I would be fit to spy on them. And I accepted it, knowing it wouldn't be an easy task. And it wasn't."

She paused for a moment, an odd pause that had more meaning in it than the ears could tell.

"But even after seven years gaining their trust and reading each and any documents I had access to and could put my hands on, I was never able to find out the location of the experiments. And then", she said, looking at Mulder. "your sister escaped, something that had never happened before, and it caused a monumental mayhem within the Purity Control's inner groups."

Mulder stepped forward, and sensing what was coming, Scully held an arm up across his chest at the same time Skinner lifted his wand towards him. Mulder looked like he was about to attack as if he was a mad dog.

Scully looked up at him, the warning clear in her blue eyes - though the prospect of Monica being aware of Sam being alive during all this time and being quiet about it also made Scully want to punch her in the face right there, Skinner had called them there for a reason and Reyes clearly had information they did not, so they definitely should try to stay calm and learn whatever they could.

"You knew about my sister…? All this time, you knew she was alive and never told Skinner, or told _me_ about her...?", mostly due to his partner's warning than to his own efforts on it, he managed to keep his voice low, but not concealing his anger at all. "And what about Scully? _Did you know about her too?_ "

Reyes didn't bat an eyelash under the possibility of being attacked - she had to deal with worse things than that before. But her hazel eyes sparkled under the glowing candles, the anger in them on par to Mulder's, not because she felt betrayed like he did.

She was actually deeply offended by his accusations.

"Of course I didn't know about Dana. Or about Samantha, either. Did you even hear what I just said?", she answered, trying to conceal how irritated she felt, but not really succeeding. " _I was not involved with the experiments_. I was with the external groups of the P.C., I did dirty jobs and gathered information. No one outside of the experiment circles knows about the identities of possible abductees, and I had no idea they had targeted Dana, until it was too late."

She looked at Scully again for a second, and what she wanted to tell the Healer previously but remained quiet about was now evident in her expression - the remorse, and how sorry she felt for not being able to warn the Healer she was in danger, for not being able to avoid her abduction and its dire consequences.

The Healer was taken aback by Monica's silent apologize, and even though she could tell she was being honest in her apology, Scully remained in silence.

Reyes then turned again to Mulder.

"What I was able to get about your sister _at all_ was that she had not survived the tests, like hundreds before and after her. _No one_ could know about Samantha because she was _extremely valuable_ to them. _She still is_. And you two know very well why."

"Oh, of course I know. Because she is probably their only 'lab rat' that succeeded.", Mulder said acidly, using the Muggle expression he heard Scully use many times before.

"Exactly.", confirmed Reyes, crossing her arms. "She is their 'number one'. And they want her back. They know you are involved, hiding her somewhere, and they didn't attack any of you before only because I was able to convince them Samantha would show up sooner rather than later, which turned out to be correct. They are very confused because Samantha has this… Trace on her, and yet they cannot tell where she is."

"That's not possible", interfered Scully, who had already put her arm down, seeing Mulder would not do anything he would later regret. "She turned twenty nine in January, Traces fade when you are seventeen. Everyone knows that."

Reyes turned to Scully, a little impatient.

"She can Apparate through countries to places she had never been, change her appearance at will and even turn invisible on her own. That's not even near the oddest thing they had done to her.", listed Reyes. Seeing the surprise in Aurors' eyes, she added, "You know she can do all of that and much more, right?"

"Not the invisibility part, no.", said Scully. Even with her tests and the Wanderers' training, she realized there was still a great deal they didn't know about Sam, and things Sam probably had no idea herself because even remembering a lot of the experiments, some memories were still locked away due to trauma. "But if you didn't even know she was alive, how do you know all of this about her?"

"After her escape, I had direct access to her files. They are _desperate_ to retrieve her. So, they became a bit more… _open_ towards their secrets, as they said - in my opinion, they just became sloppy with their desperation to have her back, wanting as many people they could have, looking for her. I knew it would be my last night working for them when I was told about tonight's operation, that Samantha had left her mysterious hiding place and was where the P.C. have been expecting her to show up since her flight from the facility three months ago: your mother's house."

Monica's expression softened - it was deep concern, and even guilt in her eyes.

"I would never forgive myself if they had killed you all. And what they had done to Samantha… I've seen the reports, I've seen the pictures. That was too terrible. Unforgivable. And if I could do anything to avoid all of that of happening to you two, or happening ever again to Samantha, I would. And I did."

Silence fell between them, filling in the empty, abandoned room they were in.

"Miss Reyes is now obviously being hunted down by the Purity Control for her betrayal and ruining their retrieving operation.", continued Skinner, breaking the silence.

"I already have somewhere safe to stay, ", Monica said", Mr Skinner and I had that arranged way before I had even started to spy on Spender, just in case things got ugly at anytime, and tonight was the last drop that I needed to overflow and get out of the P.C.'s goddamn way. And that's why I immediately came forward to Mr Skinner and asked him to get in touch with you."

"Why?", asked the Healer.

"With Samantha's escape, and tonight's operation, I was finally able to learn where the damn Purity Control facility is located."


	9. The Tunguska Event

_[two months prior - the Second]_

 _And yet, there she was again - trapped inside herself._

 _The sand beneath her feet seemed to change into solid, cold stone. The winds didn't fade, however, and she still felt like she was unnaturally weightless, underwater._

 _The force pulling her was irresistible, even though she was fighting with all of her might to get away from that grip that made her walk and walk, endlessly through that night that also didn't seem to have an end._

 _Then, with each step that echoed on the stone like the sound of a clock in an abandoned house, she realized that the horizon had changed._

Finally, something changed _, she thought._

 _There, pointing at the skies like a giant sword stuck in the middle of the desert, was a mountain._

 _And that's where she was clearly heading to._

With the whistling of the wind still in her ears, Scully's eyes flew open as she jerked a little, her heart racing madly in her chest. Instead of the mountain growing in the horizon, her eyes simply saw the ceiling of her dark room with the stripes of the street lights marking them, as usual.

She sighed, trying to breath slower: _In and out; in and out_ \- she thought to herself.

She felt a movement on the left side of the bed and turned to see Kevin facing her, sleeping by her protectively since the first dream had happened and repeated itself for weeks, always waking her up in terrified tears.

The sight of him made her feel better. She turned to face him, the pace of her breathing finally slowing down and, tired, she felt that sleep was once more safe.

She held her sleeping son's hand and closed her eyes once more, this time free of any dreams at all.

 _[present - April 3rd 1996]_

It was right to say that all the information hit them like a giant hammer.

Or, as Langly would always say, _"like an ACME anvil"_ \- whatever that meant.

"How can we know she is not just… plain lying to you?", asked Frohike. Answering the question on Mulder's behalf, Scully waved her wand and five huge piles of folders gathered in seven years of double-crossing appeared on the table in front of him - the folders were all dark-emerald in color, and had a symbol of a boy feeding an eagle stamped in golden, and a number right below it, also in golden ink. There were also avulse documents and papers in the pile that didn't belong to the folders.

"That's how we are going to find it out - these are all copies, the originals were given to Skinner to hide, as evidence.", the Healer explained to them latest part of their meeting. "She told us she was there with the Smoking Man in his office at the time he was reported about Sam's reappearance tonight, via a restricted, controlled Floo channel leading to Spender's fireplace. The report was done by a man called Scott Ostlehoff, who used to work in the Ministry as a high rank Auror and is probably one of the people in charge of the facility."

"In that conversation, Ostlehoff let it slip information about his location - the P.C.'s location." Mulder completed. "Spender definitely noticed the mistake, but Reyes told us he already considered her trustworthy for years now, that's why he didn't flip on her and Obliviate her on the spot. But nonetheless, that's how they probably knew Reyes had double-crossed them right away. Reyes mentioned they were sloppy because of Sam's escape, and I thought she was maybe exaggerating a little. As we see, she _really_ _wasn't._ "

"By the hammer of Thor, all because of a Floo Call? _Seriously_?", Langly said, placing a hand over his face as if he had just heard the dumbest thing ever said in the History of the Wizarding World. " _Why not use other means, like we do_? It literally isn't _that hard_ to make one of these notebooks!"

"Can't teach new tricks to an old cat, as you Muggles say.", said Frohike.

"It's 'dog'.", corrected Langly. "But yeah. I still can't believe it. _Of all things_. Floo call, Jesus fucking Christ. Mistakes like these ended wars, the Ol' Chim-Chimney should know that."

"The old _what_?", Frohike asked, more confused than ever.

Langly rolled his eyes and ignored his question.

"But what if the Purity Control just deceived her about _everything_?", asked Sam, looking up at the piles of documents in front of her, as she was sitting next to them, still in the middle of her scheduled meal. "She might think she is helping out, but they might have lied to her just like they probably would."

"I think that's a risk we will have to take, Sam. It is our only lead so far and a good one, I have to say.", Mulder answered.

"If Monica Reyes is lying, these papers might tell us that. She also told us they gave her and other P.C. Agents a report about Sam's escape, where they mention a location. But without the full context, it seems just a random place Sam had Apparated to since they never really mention places anywhere, for safety. However, I do think she's telling the truth.", the Healer-Auror added. "Especially because I don't think Skinner would be easily fooled when he had done investigations himself, years before and alongside Reyes' own investigations."

"In any event, we'll still have to take a look at all of these documents.", the oldest Mulder sibling added. "But honestly, the location does makes a lot of sense. And I kind of want to kick myself in the ass for not thinking of that before, but who would ever think they would hide in plain sight, right?"

"Cut the suspense crap, Muldo." intervened Langly, impatient. "Where is this bloody facility?"

"Tyva District, Russia. More specifically, to the south of Krasnoyarsk Krai", he said, the foreign words coming out of his lips as comfortably as he was just saying "good morning" - having traveled a lot to after he left the MACUSA, he had learned a thing or two.

After he said that, the surprise and sudden understanding showed up on The Wanderers' faces as they simultaneously let out an exclamation of "Ohhhhhhh!".

Sam looked around, confused.

"Why is this place so obvious…?"

"Because of the Tunguska Event in 1947.", Byers said, pulling out his wand and conjuring a roll of parchment paper that was tucked away in a drawer on the other side of the room. He set the piles of documents aside with a flick of his wand and unrolled the parchment open on the large table - it was a big map of Russia. He tapped his wand in the middle of it, and the fine ink lines zoomed in, showing more details of that region.

"On June 30th of that year, something massive crashed in there near the Podkamennaya Tunguska _,_ the _Tunguska Under the Stones_ River.", informed Mulder, coming closer to point the region out in the map so Sam could see it. "Witnesses said it was an asteroid that fell from outer space, but no crater was ever found. And the consequences of the impact were pretty ugly. And pretty strange."

"What happened?", asked the youngest Mulder sibling, intrigued by the story on its own, but also by how that was connected to the facility's exact location.

"Kilometers of forests were burnt.", Langly said, waving his wand casually, making one of the Illusions he was so good at conjuring, showing the destroyed forest he was describing - it looked like a monochrome, three-dimensional picture floating over the map. "But no crater, as Big Mulder said. People say that what crashed was actually a 'flying saucer'."

Sam was more confused than ever.

"A _what?_ "

"A Star Elf vessel.", Frohike producing with his wand a translucent image of the popular-looking UFO. "Creatures coming from space that hold artifacts, magic and knowledge far beyond ours."

"...I still don't understand how does all of that connects with the Purity Control…?", Sam confessed, feeling a bit slow on the torrent of information and things she had never even imagined they existed, but at the same time observing the images the Wanderers showed her with a deep interest to learn more.

"Ugh, sorry about that. We might be confusing you more than answering your questions.", said Frohike, waving his wand around again and dissolving his UFO. "But that's okay, Wizards in general don't really know much about Star Elves, it is rare for them to show up here on Earth. And Muggles mostly think they are just a tale of Beedle the Bard for babies and naive people."

Scully then intervened, trying to explain things better.

"It is actually a long, much more complicated topic that we can - and should - go deeper later, Sam. But long story short: at first, we thought that these magical creatures from space called 'Star Elves' were coming here to Earth, kidnapping people and experimenting with them, because that's what the stories and myths surrounding them tell us about them. But the more we investigated, the more evidences showed up, and even your very presence here with us now and the story you've told us pointed out that these experiments were no deed of magical creatures, but of _men_. And everything Auror Monica Reyes had told us tonight, if true, confirm all that. Our theory is that someone got hold of the vessel that crashed in Tunguska back in 1947 and people are now using its technol… its _techniques_ and foreign magic to abduct and change people's true nature and physiology. Like they did to you, Sam..."

And after an hesitating pause, she added:

"And like they did to me."

Sam thought the night was already done with the surprises, but what Scully had just said definitely surprised her, a lot.

"You… They got you too, Miss Scully…?", she asked, her pale eyes wide.

"Yes. January 21, 1993."

Sam was unsure of how she felt - she felt compassion for the other woman, whom she considered her very first friend, and she also completely understood her, for the Healer definitely knew how it was like to be taken against her will and experimented with. But she was a bit confused on why she had decided to omit such information up to now - she had gone through the same thing after all.

"I am sorry I hid this from you", Scully said, as if guessing her thoughts. "I didn't really feel ready to tell you about it before, due to many reasons. But we can talk about it on another time, if you want to know more."

"Yes, I'd like to, Miss Scully.", Sam replied. She was definitely curious about the Auror's experiences with the P.C. and wondered how she dealt with them.

Scully simply nodded at her, silently postponing that subject for the moment.

Any of that was the explanation Sam was expecting, of how she was abducted, how all the changes in her body and magic - and probably Scully's too, as she had just learned - took place. But everyone seemed quite certain of where the experiments happened, and why Tunguska was definitely the right location.

And if these star creatures were so incredible and advanced in magic and knowledge as they were saying they were, Scully's explanation about them made perfect sense. Not to mention that since the very beginning of everything, when Sam's mind started to emancipate from years of control, she could tell that what the Purity Control had done to her was not entirely _human_.

Both literally and metaphorically speaking.

But she had other concerns in that moment and whatever the explanations were, what mattered was that they knew where the PC was hiding.

"So, what are we going to do?", Sam asked, quickly making her empty plate disappear with a gesture of her hands and conjuring an apple from the kitchen. But instead of taking a bite right away, she just held it as she looked up at her brothers and - now, more than ever - her friends.

She had no need to elaborate her question for everyone knew exactly what she meant: the Purity Control had to be taken down somehow and as soon as possible.

"No plans yet, of course.", said Mulder. "We will need to map each and every thing we will do, from now on."

"Starting with my family. I really need to get to them.", said Scully, as she turned to the Wanderers. "I need a huge favor from you, boys."

"Anything to the prettiest, most Special Auror in that dusty basement you two call an office.", said Frohike.

She rolled her eyes, but the faint smile on her lips gave in her amusement before she spoke in her usual serious tone.

"One of the last things Monica mentioned to us before leaving was that now, more than ever, the P.C. will be on us - and our families. I can find somewhere else my mother and siblings can stay, somewhere far, safe and hidden. But If it is not too much to ask, I'd like to bring Kevin over, so he can be safe but close... I _really_ don't want to send him away."

If they were not going to say yes anyway, the way Scully sounded under the possibility of being far from her child would instantly have convinced the Wanderers to do so.

"But of course, Miss Scully! There is no need to ask such a thing.", Byers immediately answered. "You and Kevin are always welcome here, you know that."

"And we can help hiding the rest of your family too, if you want.", offered Frohike.

"I accept the help, yes.", she said with a grateful smile. "Thank you, boys."

"Not to mention of course, this is probably the safest place Kevin could ever get,", added Langly. "with the best Uncles here to take care of him."

"That's the real danger we all should worry about, actually.", Sam said, her eyes turned down to her apple in her hands, trying to hide the mischievous smile when everyone threw a surprised look at her, taken aback by her sudden, Fox Mulder-esque sense of humor.

Except for Mulder himself - he looked at his sister as if he had just won the Lucky Leprechaun Lottery.

"Oh, no... It runs in the family.", said Frohike, a defeated tone in his voice like he had _not_ won the Lucky Leprechaun Lottery. "We will be damned now, with two freaking Mulders rattling around in this place."

Scully let escape a loud chuckle, and under that promising prospect, the Mulder siblings exchanged a look, sharing the familiar devilish, child-like smile on their faces.

The place was dark when they Apparated inside. She drew her wand out and absentmindedly waved the lights on - not worried about being seen or caught for the first time that night.

Next to the window and not really looking at him, she told him her plan.

He looked at her with deep alarmed eyes.

"Are you really sure you want to do that? You were very competent during all these years but let's face it, you were also _very lucky_ so far. Don't push it any further." he said. When she didn't answer, his boss' expression just softened to one similar of a concerned father's, uncrossing his arms. "Look… this will be likely the last thing you will ever do. You already sacrificed almost a decade of your life, you don't have to end this with your own death."

Special Auror Monica Reyes looked away from the window for the first time since they started their conversation, her arms crossed and her posture, tense.

"That was his first and last mistake, Walter. I won't let this chance slip like that. And exactly because I've lost seven years in this _madness_ , I need to go 'till the very end of it." she paused for a second, sighing in exhaustion, before adding in a more gentle tone. "Please... find out for me where Ostlehoff is."

The Assistant Director sighed in a mix of concern, sorrow and also exhaustion. He already had many lives weighing on him, and he felt the life of his former student - who had changed so much also thanks to him, and not in a good way - would soon be added to it.

He was definitely against the entire plan - but that was her life, and if she wanted to accept the high risk of losing it in the name of making things right, there was nothing he could tell her to convince her to just leave.

He reluctantly nodded positively to her request.

Reyes turned around again and looked through the window at the phone booth and heavily graffitied wall hiding the Ministry of Magic below, right on the other side of the street - the last place they would ever search for her.

Scully decided to get the plan going right away as she didn't really want to take any risks.

The Wanderers gave the Auror a list of secret places they held just in case they needed it, as they explained - which even Mulder thought was a bit paranoid of them, but the Wanderers all thought that having seventeen spare places scattered through the country and beyond "just in case" was perfectly reasonable.

Not wanting to be obvious, Scully thought that it would be better to get places in the nearby countries so her mother, her sister and her brothers - and their respective families - could hide safely. It would definitely get in the way of their jobs and their personal lives, but the Healer-Auror would rather disturb their peaceful lives as a temporary solution than her family ending up not having lives at all, and they would definitely understand that.

She left with Mulder, Frohike and Bayers, all of them Apparating away into the houses of Scully's relatives and then using Portkeys - safer and more reliable in long distances like that - to leave the country and go into the chosen secret places; Portugal and Switzerland were the ones she picked, since they had no relatives or any links in any of them.

Sam was left behind with Langly - who, after hours of talking to her about RPG and Muggle stuff, was now sound asleep on his arms over the table since 4AM -. However, she stayed up, waiting for them. She was way too restless to sleep, and she wanted to be sure her brother, Scully, the two Wanderers and little Kevin would be coming back safely.

The moving operation took almost the entire night, and it was almost 6AM when the group finally came back, tired but looking like the mission of relocating Miss Scully's family members was accomplished with no complications or hardships. They all had the same expression of exhaustion and dark circles under their eyes.

Kevin was brought on Mulder's back - the boy's light brown hair hid his face a little bit, but Sam could tell he was sound asleep just like Langly was next to her. Noticing Sam was looking with curiosity, Scully turned to her, holding her wand up as she Levitated a worn out trunk engraved with the golden initials "D.K.S.", already faded by use and time.

"He wanted to stay with us, that's why we didn't bring him before relocating everyone." she explained, as she gently reached out with her free hand to the boy being held by her partner.

"But this Special Auror here couldn't really stay awake.", added Mulder, gesturing his head towards his shoulder was Kevin leaning on.

"Meanwhile, I had Langly here sleeping on me.", Sam said, pointing at her friend on the seat before her.

"I can see that. I can't really blame him, to be honest.", answered Scully with a deep yawn. She then turned to Byers, when he called her from the stairs.

"I will show where you and Kevin can sleep tonight.", he said. He looked at Sam, and added "Wake Ringo up so he can go to bed. And you too should get some sleep, Sam. The night was… full of emotions, to say the least."

He said that with that same disapproving-parent tone he had used to Langly the night before, as if staying up late at night was not what Sam usually did anyway, now that she had no need to sleep as much to recharge her energies.

She Summoned a muffin from the kitchen as a snack before bed and chewing on it, she woke up her passed-out friend, who had just started to drool on the table.

 _[a few hours later - April 4th, 1996]_

He felt like his soul had jumped out of his body for a moment when a muffled, but very powerful sound woke him up abruptly. He looked around the room, dimly illuminated by the daylight coming from the gaps of the window blinds, and saw he was in a strange place.

He panicked for a second. Where was he?

Then, the memories of the previous night came back to him - all the brief, international trips over two different countries with his mum, Mulder and the Uncles, to keep her family safe...

No, no.

To keep _his_ family safe.

He was still getting used to the fact he now had an entire family with a grandmother and aunt and uncles - he had liked Aunt Melissa, she was funny and always so nice to him. But Bill was always grumpy and trying to convince him to play boring sports, and Charlie was always absent anyway, so he didn't really had an opinion formed yet. Mrs Scully had taken him under her wing right away - at first, he felt a little awkward, but he was getting used to think of her like that - as his new grandmother.

He blinked and looked around. He saw another bed nearby where he should be sleeping, but since his mum's nightmares had started, he would rather sleep next to her to protect her from them the best he could.

She was still sound asleep - she probably didn't even heard the sound that woke him up because of the previous night's adventures and because another of her bad dreams had striked again right after they had laid down to sleep. His mum was so tired that she wouldn't wake up even if a stampede of Erumpents exploded right behind her.

He looked down at her and let out a worried sigh.

When he asked her about her nightmares, she had told him that they were more about the feelings she had than seeing scary images: she felt trapped, and powerless in them, and she didn't know what exactly was causing it. He had thought of the conversation they had months before, when she had told him how she too had her own fears just like he did, and he wondered if these events had anything to do with what was happening to her in her dreams.

He of course had no answer for that question. Just like he had no answer to, what in the name of J.R.R. Tolkien (Order of Merlin, Second Class), had actually woken him up.

He sat there in silence for several minutes, unsure of what to do next, when he suddenly heard a door nearby open and close, and steps on the corridor, silent as a bunny's. It was probably one of the Uncles, Kevin thought. Still in his flannel pajamas and thick yarn socks, he carefully left the bed, trying not to move it too much not to disturb his mum's sleep, and walked to the door.

He opened it slowly and looked outside. The corridor of the Wanderers' place was desert when he left the room and went down the stairs, his socks muffling the sound of his steps.

However, the more he went down the stairs, the more he was certain that it was neither of the Uncles.

There was something odd in the air.

The kind of strange feeling just like the way one knows a storm is coming only by the metallic smell the sky and the earth seem to emit, and how the air seems to get heavier in their lungs. When he stepped in the main room, he felt the weird storm-feeling coming from his left - the kitchen. It was a different presence he never felt before in that house.

He went to the door and peeked through it.

The strangest woman he had ever seen in his life stood there in the middle of the stone walled kitchen, barefeet, dressed all in dark purple, raising her arms covered with long sleeves that ended up in gloves that concealed her hands almost entirely to hold a bowl that floated in her direction. By the smell of it, it seemed she had just conjured some porridge.

His stomach mumbled.

He saw when she went very still for a second, clearly noticing someone was watching her, and then turned to look at him with a chiseled face covered in thin scars. Her long, dark hair fell in tiny waves down her back and over her left shoulder like a curtain, down way past her hips.

Looking at her, there was no way Kevin would not immediately think of Owen, the man who had worked as a gardener to his family back in his previous home when his first mother was still alive: Owen Lee Jarvis was also tall and strange-looking to most people, but he had been nothing but kind and protective to Kevin. The boy always thought that that was the reason why plants seemed to grow brighter and stronger when Owen cared for them, and Kevin knew that before Owen had even said a word to him. He just knew it, somehow.

Kevin quickly swept the thoughts of the kind gardener away, remembering what had been his destiny, and why. He focused once more in the present - as his mother Dana had told him so many times -, once more looking at the pale figure of the scarred woman in front of him.

Just like he was able to tell Owen was not dangerous, and that the man who had kidnapped him meant to kill him as soon as he could, Kevin just could tell that witch's nature was not a bad one, even if she emanated that weird, storm-like electricity from within; chaotic, yes. But not evil.

She stood there, staring at him for a moment, clearly thinking of what to do next. Her pale eyes looked down at the porridge bowl in her hands for a second and then turned back to him.

"Hmm… Are you hungry?", she asked in a thin voice, that seemed younger than her looks.

Kevin's stomach gave another twist, the warm smell of porridge filling the kitchen.

"Yes.", he also hesitated, not out of fear but shyness.

The woman let go of the bowl, which stood still in the air where she left it, and gestured again in the air with both hands in fluid movements: oatmeal, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon and other ingredients came out from the cupboards and mixed together in the air in another bowl she Summoned from the sink. After honey poured itself from its jar onto the warm, fresh porridge, the witch Summoned a spoon from one of the drawers, placing it into the bowl and, with another slow hand motion, sending it floating towards him. It stopped right in front of his chest - a second bowl of not too warm, not too cold porridge waiting to be held by his small hands.

He did just that right away.

The witch picked her own porridge up again and walked towards him, wanting to leave the kitchen and he stepped aside to let her pass by, her hair flowing like a war banner behind her; she was so tall he barely hit her chest in height - she was almost as tall as Dana's boyfriend was, he thought.

He looked at her as she sat down at one of the tables of the main room and start to eat. Without turning around, she spoke once more.

"You should eat it soon, it tastes kind of bad when it is cold.", she said, just like Frohike had told her the first time she had breakfast downstairs and was acting pretty much the same way the little boy was.

Kevin walked to the same table she had chosen and sat on the opposite seat she was, his stomach finally giving in.

"It is not as good as Frohike's, I hope it is not too bad.", Sam told him, uncertain.

"No, it is pretty good.", he replied, which was true - the porridge was rich and not too sweet, just the way he liked. Then, after a moment of silence, his curiosity also gave in and he added, "Hum…. who are you…?"

"Oh..." she said, not really expecting the question. "I'm Samantha. Or just Sam. I am Fox's sister."

"I didn't know Mulder had a sister.", he said, looking at her, an intrigued expression in his eyes. "I mean... I've never seen you around before."

"That's because I hum… I was away, for a very long time, and I was only able to come back very recently.", she explained.

Kevin sat back against the chair, thinking.

He was still a child, but he could definitely tell that something weird was happening: all the mobilization of the previous night to relocate his family, and his mother bringing him and all their stuff to the Uncles' under the explanation it was only a safety measure and he didn't have to worry about anything - he had assumed it had something to do with her work at the Ministry, or even the rumors that Dark Wizard his mum had once told him about had returned; his mum's weird nightmares that would wake her up because she was literally sobbing in her sleep; and now, Mulder's sister - who was very strange and kind of mysterious - showing up out of the blue. He was around in Dana Scully's life for a little less than a year, but he already knew her mum and siblings, her boyfriend, and the Wanderer Uncles; it just seemed bit strange he never even heard of Sam before.

And these weird things happening all at once, he wondered if something else was going on. He would later ask his mum about that, she would always answer any questions he had.

He then heard Sam talk to him, and he left his train of thought.

"...I saw you yesterday night, when you arrived. I've also heard the boys talk a bit about you. You are Kevin, right? Miss Scully's son."

"Yes."

"You do look like her.", Sam told him.

He assumed she knew as little of him as he knew of her, and that meant she probably wasn't aware he was adopted. He also looked for any sign she was being sarcastic, but apparently she meant it as there was no mocking tones or looks like it usually happened.

"You really think so…?", he asked, still a little suspicious.

"Of course. You two look alike around the eyes."

"Oh… Well… People say that all the time, you know.", he lied, at the same time he genuinely smiled and felt a warm feeling in his chest.

People usually tended to remind him how much _unlike_ his mother Dana he was and how much he was " _not_ her real son". Usually kids at school, sometimes even teachers and other adults he had met would comment things that didn't seem like a big deal at first sight but actually hurt him more than they could imagine.

He wasn't Dana Scully's biological child, he was aware of that.

He had a mother before and no matter what, Dana would never take Susan Kryder's place as his birth mum, who had raised him with love and literally gave her life to protect him. On the other hand, Dana had also saved him and taken him under her wing right away when no one else would, knowing he had no family left and that his father was not able to take care of him; Dana was brave and strong and loving, and he adored her for everything she had done to him.

Knowing someone honestly thought they were alike was all he ever wanted to hear.

Sam didn't say anything more after that, and Kevin didn't know how to carry the conversation on either, so both of them ate in silence.

They were almost done with their porridge and it was almost 11AM when Langly came downstairs still in his pajamas, consisting in a pair of black old sweatpants and a t-shirt that had the words "LED ZEPPELIN" written on the chest in white, along with the faded picture of a wizard standing on a hill, holding up a bright lantern with one hand and a staff with the other, and strange symbols drawn next to him. The shirt was so old the black had turned gray - "a band shirt", he had explained to Sam when he caught her staring at it once, slightly confused.

She still was not sure of what that really meant.

Kevin on the other hand, was already very familiar with it.

"Oh. Good morning, early birdies. Did you fell off your beds?", he asked, knowing how late everyone went to bed, and knowing Sam usually woke up after he and Frohike were already up, around noon.

"My stomach woke me up", answered Sam. Since she started her scheduled meals, she wasn't able to keep from eating for much longer anymore.

"Something woke me up. It was a loud sound, like something blowing up. But maybe I was just dreaming.", Kevin told them.

Sam's face immediately became red.

"I am so sorry…! I didn't mean to.", she said to him. Kevin looked at her, not understanding why she was apologizing.

"Sammy here has some… scary nightmares sometimes. And that causes those small explosions when she wakes up. They are harmless and magically contained now, so no need to worry about them.", explained Langly, seeing the boy's confusion, walking towards them. "It is alright, Sam, it was our fault - we should have insulated their room before going to bed."

"Still. I am sorry I woke you up.", Sam apologized to the boy once more.

"That's okay.", Kevin told her, remembering his mum's terrified reactions whenever waking up from her nightmares and his own experiences with bad dreams, he totally understood Sam's reactions. "I was probably going to wake up soon, anyway."

Sam didn't look very convinced, but she didn't say anything else.

When Frohike, Mulder and Scully woke up a bit later, they decided to dedicate the following hours to expand the house, which they had not done the previous night because everyone was so exhausted; Langly had slept in Byers' room, while Scully slept with Kevin in his room. Mulder slept in Sam's room. The spare beds were improvised by temporarily Transfiguring things into them.

Since no one had no idea of how long all of that Purity Control madness would last, they thought it would be wise to move everyone into the Wanderers' Headquarters for now, and not only little Kevin. Though the Special Aurors' homes were almost as well guarded as the Wanderers' place, no one wanted to take any chances. Even more with Reyes telling them the P.C. literally can't find Sam in there even with the Trace-like spell she had in her - that only meant the Wanderers' was the safest place to be in that moment.

Byers was the only one that would still go to work at the Ministry because, to the rest of the world, him and the Special Aurors were not connected at all and they wanted everyone to still think like that. Officially, Mulder and Scully would be taking a leave from the M-Files, and they had no date to return.

With Byers still being able to attend work, he would also be useful as an informant of how the things were in the Ministry during the Aurors' absence as there was something odd in the air since the incident in the Dept. of Mysteries the previous year: the whole thing with Arthur Weasley and his attack was still being investigated internally, and even though no one would say that out loud officially, the general opinion was that it had been some kind of inside job.

That conclusion raised a whole new set of questions, but the Wanderers and the the Special Aurors were almost certain that the attack was not related to Sam's escape or aimed at them at all - even with Scully being constantly asked if she was a Weasley when she first got in the Ministry, they had no business with Arthur nor ever spoke to him for he was from an entirely different Department, located in another floor.

They couldn't ignore the fact there was a parallel war going on, against rising Death Eaters and possibly Voldemort himself who had returned from the dead after fifteen years the The Boy Who Lived had defeated him. The possibility that the attack was connected to that was high, not to mention Monica Reyes hadn't mentioned it at all during their conversation the night prior.

However, while the prospect of living with the Wanderers wasn't a bad thing at all, there was already an unspoken fear in the air that no one really wanted to bring to the surface: the fear the P.C. would always be after all of them, forever, not allowing them to experience a normal life ever again.

Besides the Scully family being relocated and protected, there was also the fact Kevin would reach the age of attending Hogwarts that very year in September 29th, which worried Scully a lot - they would all have to wait until everything ends, or even move with him somewhere else where he could live normally and go to school like any other kid.

And even that had its risks.

While everything seemed so uncertain with questions and danger hanging over their heads like that, the Wanderers wanted everything to be as normal and as less stressful as it could be, which meant making their place a home for everyone to begin with, something the Aurors completely agreed with, and were very grateful for.

They divided themselves to expanded the house more effectively, carefully carving more rooms with intricate spells. Kevin followed them everywhere like a curious little kitten, watching everything with high interest - it wasn't often he was able to see such big performances of magic taking place. He usually saw Scully perform smaller or more domestic kind of spells. He had magic himself, but it was still very untamed as it is so common in the childhood of wizards and witches.

Byers took advantage of the house expansion to also carve a new room downstairs, large enough for more practical spells with Sam, so far being improvised in the long corridor - which now became even longer with the new rooms. At the end of the day, the corridor that had four doors that morning, had seven by the middle of the afternoon: one for each Wanderer, one for Sam, one for each of the Special Aurors and one for Kevin.

At some point Sam asked to help as well, observing as they used spells to Expand the rooms that already existed before, adding walls and doors and furniture. However she had to constantly stop to rest and eat something, otherwise all the spent energy and magic would drain her so badly she would nearly faint. The Healer observed Sam, and made sure she wouldn't wear herself out. But the youngest Mulder sibling was quickly picking up her own limitations and how her body would alert her she was low on energy.

Scully worried about her friend's little sister well-being, but she also had to admit - even if against her will - that the ability of properly using her magic would probably be useful to Sam in the future.


	10. The Stolen Files

_[two months prior - the Third]_

 _She had finally reached the mountain._

 _The sharp stone cut her feet, and sometimes the inclination and obstacles would make her fall on her knees and hands._

 _She saw drops of her blood on the stone beneath her, at some point._

 _And while the compulsion to go forward no matter what was still unshakable, she was no longer afraid of the force attracting her. Maybe she was getting used to it, or she had simply accepted her faith in this strange, forced journey through the desert, across the stone, up this mountain._

 _That's when she heard it for the first time._

 _Running with the wind - which was becoming even more ferocious as she went up, if that was possible -, she heard a faint ring._

 _A distant bell._

 _It was unlike hearing the big bells she used to hear when she was a child and the church she went with her family was close enough to go in a five minutes walk._

 _No._  
 _  
It was faint and delicate. Like sleigh bells, but very long in duration and many in number. Like the church ones, they tolled. But not, at the same time. It was being carried in the wind, down the mountain and towards her._

 _It was not only a just a set of ringing bells, and somehow she was aware of that._

 _The sound was the very force compelling her, making her feet move and her will, disappear._

She shivered briefly but violently, coming out from her sleep.

Her eyes stared at the dark ceiling and it took her a second to remember where the faint, blue light was coming from, dancing in waves above her.

She looked to her right and saw Mulder's concerned eyes, looking like he had just came out of his own sleep just like her.

 _Did I wake you up...? I am sorry_ , she instinctively told him mind-to-mind, not wanting to disturb the silence around them. Their faces were so close her voice sounded as clear to him as if she had spoken out loud.

He came closer and embraced her as she snuggled against him under the blanket, his sofa made slightly wider to fit both of them comfortably - she wasn't very fond of his weird water bed that no one really knew where it had came from.

 _It's okay.,_ he answered, worry in his voice. He then added, hesitating a little. _It is no wonder these… these dreams are affecting you so much..._

She looked at him, confusion taking her expression _, How do you know…?_

 _I saw it too... the stones, the mountain. The music in the wind. And how everything... looked so dead and oppressive. As it happened... I somehow knew the dream wasn't really mine, but yours and that it wasn't the first one, either,_ he told her. Then, realizing how that sounded, he quickly added _, I-I am so sorry. I was asleep too, I swear I didn't mean to pry..._

Scully brought her hands to her face and sighed.

 _No, that's okay Mulder, I believe you. My Occlumency must be very low._ , she let another deep sigh out, because she was tired and because she felt bad for letting her guard down so easily.

 _Can I ask you about them…? About your dreams?_ , he inquired with a worried mindvoice, taking his right hand away from her waist and caressing her hair softly.

She nodded gently, her head tucked under his chin.

 _This one I've just had was strange… but not as scary as the previous nightmares. It is almost as if I got used to them...? Or maybe I just didn't care anymore._

 _When I was seeing it, I had this weird feeling to know more than it was being shown to me, Scully,_ he explained to her., _as if I somehow had memories of what happened before, but I couldn't really tell. What were the other ones about...?_

She managed to tell him about her previous dreams in detail - how the first one terrified her so much because the lack of freedom and the invisible force making her do something against her will were sensations too close to home regarding her abduction and kidnapping, years before. But she was fully aware that her dreams related to her past traumas were portrayed with completely different elements: they were always more exaggerated, distorted memories of what had really happened, transforming already traumatic events into something even worse in her sleeping mind. However, this new set of recurring dreams, she was really unsure on what they meant.

Mulder already knew she sometimes had dreams about her traumatic past events, just like he had his' - they had spoken about them before. But she never went into details on how she truly felt about them.

 _The second nightmare was still scary_ , she continued, _but not as much. Same setting, almost. Except the mountain showed up in the horizon by the end. And finally this dream you just saw, where I felt like… as if somehow, the fear I had in them was gone. Or maybe, the sound of the bells made it feel less intimidating. I can't really explain why, but that's how it felt like._

His fingers coiled her hair absentmindedly as he was lost in his own thoughts for a moment, thinking about all the things she just told him.

 _Well… bells and chimes are often used in religious ceremonies to expel evil spirits, to connect with god, deities or good-natured spirits. Their sound is also a symbol of the divine in the realm of humans, sometimes they are the manifestation of the voice of god himself. Or, in a more mundane meaning, bells are a messenger: it tells us when we have to wake up, when a class is over, and it serves as a warning for many things, like a war attack or heavy storm that's on its way.,_ Mulder said, trying to find an explanation or answer on his own ways. _Do you think your dreams mean something along any of these?_ _I mean, they seem to have some kind of… logic... or strange continuity to them. As if each dream was a part of a larger story._

It was her turn to think through that perspective.

 _I don't believe they have any deep meanings, really.,_ she answered. _I think it might be just the stress of the latest weeks: finding Sam in the terrible conditions she was, taking care of her, investigating what had been done to her; being aware that the Purity Control is after her, and after us, in a way... It is probably just my mind rearranging the facts into something fantastical and strange. I felt 'trapped and scared' in my first dream, like Sam felt like when she got to us; I feel like there is a force drawing me to something or somewhere, the same way she was being drawn to you over all these years, or the same way she was being controlled by them for years._

Mulder was not surprised at all at her own practicality, somehow finding a logical explanation even to her own nightmares and fears she couldn't really pinpoint.

 _It could be. I mean, it kind of makes sense._ , he agreed, but not entirely convinced. However, he didn't say anything else for he didn't have any other explanations or ideas of what his partner's surreal dreams could mean.

 _I'm sorry my thoughts 'leaked' to your mind like that. I should be more careful about it… leaving my mind open can be very dangerous,_ she said, still feeling guilty for not watching out her own thoughts. _Specially now._

 _That's okay, Scully,_ he told her, _It's understandable. My sister's comeback and everything else around her, around the M-Files, all happening at once, it is no surprise. Not to mention it is not really your fault, when we are more than often in each other's minds than inside our own._

She smiled a little, noticing the tone of humor in his mindvoice, though what he had said was still very true.

 _And... to be honest I can't really help myself, it is a beautiful mind to be in._ , his voice sounded to her like a soft whisper as he moved his head against hers, nuzzling her like a puppy.

 _You always say that.,_ she teased, the pleased smile evident on her lips and her mindvoice as she held him closer to her.

 _Only to the ones I love the most,_ he returned, as he always did in their regular exchange of truths among silly, first-grader quality teasing.

 _Good to know.,_ she answered, her voice echoing in his mind as the chime that was reverberating inside her dreams - the bells were very haunting, hypnotic, but they also had some kind of dangerous beauty to them.

Very much like Scully herself, he thought before she kissed him.

 _[present - April 4th, 1996]_

When the house expansion was finally done, everyone sat a bit tired and hungry in the main room. But they knew their work was only beginning. Frohike conjured them a late lunch, and when everyone was done, Scully turned to look at Kevin.

"Honey, we will have to work now..."

"Aw, mum. Let me stay, just this time?", he asked hopeful, though he already knew her answer for this kind of situation.

He didn't want to leave, not when hanging around with his mum, her boyfriend and the Uncles had been so fun and interesting to watch, with all that complex magic taking place. And even being kind of silent, observing the strange new witch of the group in action was also very intriguing, to say the least - she was the only one who apparently needed no wand to channel her powers the same way regular wizards and witches do.

For what he knew from his mum telling him about it and from what he was able to read about it so far, that trait was extremely rare - and kind of impossible in the way he saw her do things. Not to mention he could swear he saw her eyes _glow_ sometimes.

"I am sorry Kevin, you know you can't stay.", answered the Healer-Auror, strict with her rules but still gentle in her voice. "You can either go read upstairs, or stay over there in the living room area, but we still have to Silence our voices to you."

The boy just sighed towards the next hours ahead of him in which he would spend all by himself, and his curiosity to know what in the name of Eva Ibbotson (Order of Merlin, Third Class) was going on made it seem even worse, but he did as he was told. At least he had brought all of his stash of readings consisting in both normal and Illusion books, some of his records and the Wizard board games he got for his birthday last September.

"Okay…", he said with a sigh, leaving the table and climbing the stairs.

Mulder, Langly and Frohike watched as Scully pulled out her wand to send the Silence spell upstairs right behind him.

"He is a good kid", said Frohike. The Healer smiled, agreeing with him.

"Yes, he is. I just... think he gets a little lonely sometimes. With all the work at the Ministry we don't really have that much time to spend together. And now with all of what's happening lately... I have the feeling we will have even less time together.", she said, worried about how uncertain everything seemed to be not only in Kevin's future, but in the lives and future of everyone in that room, her included.

"Don't worry, Scully.", Mulder told her, giving her hand on the top of the table a reassuring squeeze. If Scully was letting herself be so openly worried like that - something so unlike her -, it meant she was not only preoccupied, but also very scared. He also couldn't avoid the thought that her stressful nightmares probably had something to do with that. "We will find a way through this."

She looked back at him for a brief moment.

 _I really hope we do, Mulder. I really do.,_ and as if she had instantly raised a barrier between her worried thoughts and the rest of the people sitting in that room, she went back to her focused, practical self. With a flick of her wand, she made the lunch dishes disappear and with another, she Summoned from one of the higher shelves the dozens of documents presented to them by Monica Reyes in the previous night.

"Very well. There is a lot to go through here, but most of it are Sam's reports over the years she was with the Purity Control.", the Healer turned to face Sam, on the other side of Mulder. "With your permission Sam, I will be the one reading them. I am a Healer and also the one that's in charge of your treatments since the beginning. Of course you can read them too, if you wish. But I wouldn't recommend you doing that anytime soon, they can contain information that might be… upsetting for you."

Sam didn't need much time to think to know what her answer would be.

"I-I trust you on that, Miss Scully…", she said, having no reason to doubt the Healer's recommendations. "but I'd want you to tell me anything that might be important in there... anything you think I should know. Please."

"Of course, Sam. I promise. I would say you should read it at some point in the future when you feel this is all really in the past, and it won't come back, ever.", the Healer firmly said, touching the documents in front of her with the tips of her fingers.

As much as she wanted to help, Sam wouldn't be reading the reports with them. Scully was very clear that reading all the detailed, vivid descriptions of the abductions and experiments would only harm her more than help the group anyway.

As someone who had studied both Muggle and Wizarding World psychology in his specialized Auror training, Mulder supported Scully's decision on that, for he was more than aware that the physical part of his sister's healing process would be the easier side - the psychological side, on the other hand, would probably take years to heal or even never. It would all depend on how deep her invisible scars would be ingrained in her mind and how she would deal with them from now on.

Sam was upset she wouldn't be able to help make the reading faster, but she couldn't fight against her own terror of the cold details of experiments she was submitted to for years either, so there wasn't much she could do but stay there with them and study her DADA textbooks instead. She convinced herself it would be just as useful on its own, particular ways, with what laid ahead of them.

She then remembered a question she wanted to make since she learned Scully had also been taken.

"Are _your files_ in there too, Miss Scully…?", Sam asked her.

"No.", the Healer answered with a disappointed sigh. "I asked Reyes about it, she said she wasn't able to find them. It's probably still in the Facility, which she didn't have any access to."

The Healer was unsure if finding her files would be a good or a bad thing. It would probably be none and both at the same time, she thought.

"Well, then", said Langly after a moment, cracking his fingers, ready. "Let's do this shit."

Using her wand, Scully separated all the documents referring to Sam's experiments - which pretty much made almost sixty percent of the huge piles, all of them taller than Mulder while sitting by the table.

Langly simply picked the top green folder from the pile closer to him, and so did Frohike and Mulder. Byers was still out working, but they would have plenty to read for days with or without him. Sam simply picked the third grader Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, opened on the first page and started to read.

Meanwhile, Scully decided to begin right away with Sam's reports - as much as finding out if the facility's location was correct and learning more about the experiments was their priority, Sam's health and past reports on what had been done to her were also of great importance.

As they read through the papers, they discovered that most of them were, as expected, reports on other Abductees - all the experiments performed and what kinds of powers they had. However, the abductions per se, locations or the names of the responsibles for the experiments were not described in any of them.

They eventually found other reports about the facility itself: expansions and needed tools, things to be acquired or inspected. They couldn't get much information from those objects by the reports, however.

"Listen to this one.", said Frohike announced after the first couple of reports "Subject C516, Martina Taylor Glenn. Squib, born in 1967. Blind. Tests made her able to fully connect to other people's sight."

"What does that even mean?", asked Langly, confused.

"It says here that she was able to see through other people's eyes. As if she could 'borrow' their sight somehow, using something in the lines of Legilimency, but not really.", explained Frohike.

"And what happened to her…?", inquired Sam.

"She… hm", he read the report a little further, turning the pages, "she was released. After they couldn't push the tests further on her anymore, they were convinced that that one power she had was pretty much all the 'enhancement' they could do, but they admit here it was still a powerful, rare one and for that she was branded as a Type 4 Abductee."

The others didn't really know what to say, so they just returned to their readings - the absurdity of the situation made everyone feel like there was something wrong in the air only for reading those papers and knowing what happened to all those people. Not to mention it hit really close to home for both Sam and Scully but none of them wanted to say anything about it.

Sam was okay about hearing them discuss on the Abductees, as long as any deep details on experiments were mentioned. Besides, Scully venting earlier on how much she worried about her and her son actually made her feel very guilty - Sam was fully aware all of it was only happening because _she_ showed up out of the blue and what everyone got in return for helping her was getting their lives messed up in serious, life-menacing levels.

The youngest Mulder braced herself, determined to offer as much help she could, so she was decided to stay there, hear about other Abductees and learn more about the P.C., at the same time she learned more on how to fight properly with her magic.

Easily picking up her stress in her body language, her brother's reassurance also helped her a lot to go on with her task. _You are alright, and you are safe. Don't worry, Sam. We are here with you.,_ Mulder would tell her from time to time.

"I think... we found one of your friends, Muldo.", said Langly out loud at some point, his back leaving the chair when he leaned forward to place his elbows on the table as he read the papers.

"What…?", the Auror raised his eyes from the report of a Muggle called Pamela Hamilton, a Type 4 who among smaller abilities, also had the skill of traveling time without the use of Time Turners - but she was only able to go back, and only a day each turn. She had been released after her experiments but she didn't end up well.

"Subject C317, Robert Patrick Modell. Type 4, because the power he got was strong but his _only_ manifestation of magic. He was a Muggle before.", he announced, and it was Mulder's turn to shiver. Up to that moment, Scully and him had always thought that Modell was simply a master in performing Imperius Curses without using a wand. Discovering he was actually a Muggle abductee gave an entirely different perspective on his case.

"Well, you don't need to say what his power was. I experienced it first hand.", Mulder said, bitter.

Hearing the conversation, Scully's expression wasn't any better either - remembering how Modell almost forced Mulder to cast a Death Curse on her and on himself was enough to make her hate the man for at least seventeen generations back and forth in his family tree.

"And we know what happened to him, too. He won't leave the prison wing at St. Mungus in this century.", said the Healer. Her tone was clear she would make sure of that. "This also gives another perspective on the brain tumor he had - we thought it enhanced his powers somehow, but I see now it was probably a result of the tests he went through. Brain cancer is also common in Abductees..."

They kept on with their reading on the following days, with them occasionally commenting their findings, and often only hearing the sounds of both Mulder siblings chewing on something - Sam eating an apple or a chocolate bar every now and then to keep her blood sugar levels high, or Mulder munching his sunflower seeds like he was some kind of exotic gerbil.

The pile of empty sunflower seed shells and the list of Abductees only grew up as everyone read and took notes. Some documents were shorter than others because sometimes the experiments wouldn't have a conclusion, for many reasons - most of them because the victim had died mid-experiment.

Among everyone's notes were the following names:

Wilson Pinker Rawls - Muggle, abducted from a prison. He was returned with Apparition abilities. Strangely, his only limitation was Apparating directly behind glass walls and windows. Branded as a Type 3, due to that being his only skill and with strange limitations.

Maximilian Scott Harden - Muggle, abducted from the woods near the small town where he lived. He developed a skill to run as fast as light, as if he had taken several, concentrated Swift Spells, usually cast on high-speed brooms used by professional Quidditch teams. An intriguing skill, but still rare. He was branded as a Type 3, however, because both the experiments and the overuse of his powers wore his body out and he had the bones of a sixty-five year old though he was only sixteen when he was taken and tested.

Patrick Bryan Crump - Muggle, abducted from his home. His experiments went very wrong and it ended up damaging his brain: the pressure from his powers inside his skull had a disastrous result, and by the description, there was a chance someone would still be able to find pieces of his brain in the Purity Control labs.

Karin Melinda Berquist - Muggle, abducted from home and along with magical abilities like moving, Summoning and Transfiguring little objects, she got the Animagus skill. Her animal form was a German Shepherd. She was branded as a Type 3.

Cecil Mark L'Ively - Squib, abducted from his work site, the house he worked as a gardener. His only power was conjuring fire, which very obviously didn't went well once he was returned. Branded as a Type 1.

For each "successful" Abductee, there were at least another set of twenty who were considered - according to what the Purity Control said itself in the papers - "a waste of resources and time" and were returned branded as Type 1 or not branded at all because they wouldn't develop any magical skills, no matter how aggressive the experiments were. That, or they would simply end up dead for not being able to resist through the testing, just like Patrick Crump wasn't.

On April 7th, the third day of reading, it was Mulder who read out loud the one Abductee who really stood out from the others they had seen so far.

"Guys, I think I've found something."

Everyone lifted their eyes from their respective readings to listen - after the first twenty or thirty reports, as gruesome and bizarre the powers and experiments were, they stopped being something new or relevant for their research for no new information was found. Because of that, they all knew that that one document Mulder had in his hands was telling something very specific.

"Cassandra Veronica Spender, witch.", he threw a look at Scully, at the same time she did the exact same thing when she recognized the name. He then continued. "She is unlike any of the others we've seen so far. First of all, she is one of the few 'Pure Bloods' to be taken. She was abducted over the course of _twenty years_ and was branded as a Type 6 - the closest to Sam up to this moment."

Sam widened her eyes and leaned closer to hear more, for she was odd even among the odds - she thought there would be other Type 7 like her somewhere, but the closest to her they have seen was a type 5 homeless man from India who had not been identified by name, whose powers were strong Metamorphic abilities and multiple Animagus forms.

"Cassandra's powers", continued Mulder, "included strong Legilimency, skilled Transfiguration, Summoning, and she is able to Apparate very long distances, but only to places she knew. She is able to set five different Animagus forms, but on the other hand, her attack/defense skills are very poor. She had been returned and taken multiple times, and when Monica was able to steal this report, Cassandra was once more being held by the Purity Control. She cannot walk anymore, as one of the consequences of the tests on her health."

"I think they are getting closer to what they might consider 'perfection' with her, too.", said Scully, thinking. "I don't see why they would keep taking her in again and again, if not for that."

"And they must be taking advantage of her being very… strong against the experiments?", theorized Sam. She looked tired, the dark circles under her eyes even darker for not being able to sleep well on the previous two nights. "I mean... all the others that couldn't stand against that, and hundreds didn't survive. That's what made the P.C. keep searching for more and more people, right?"

"That makes sense.", said Langly. "If the experiments are working on her, why would they stop them? But what intrigues me the most is why they keep returning her at all? Why not just keep her?"

Everyone was in silence, thinking about that for a minute - Langly was right, that detail about Cassandra's case seemed very weird.

"I think… I think they don't want just 'an experiment'. Of course, now it makes sense.", Mulder said slowly, his eyes staring somewhere in an invisible distance as his thoughts ran in his mind, connecting the evidences. "I think they want people to be both powerful, and _'functional_ ' outside the facility."

"Actually," started Scully, returning several pages in Sam's report. "that might be it. Here, they mention that Sam 'is not yet ready to be returned because she cannot be trusted without constant vigilance and control'. But you were still young, Sam, around ten years old. I didn't really understand what they meant with that, but now with Cassandra's report and Mulder's theory, I think they meant exactly that: they _wanted_ to return you at some point, to make you socialize, interact with people, and live outside as an Abductee."

"Oh well, that's total bollocks.", said Frohike. "Little Mulder here _is_ smart and awesome _and_ powerful. Why they didn't do that, then? I don't know what else they could possibly have wanted from her."

Sam's pale face went red over his words. But she fought her embarrassment to speak up for she knew the answer for that question.

"When I was there, I was never given the chance to be left in peace, without the Imperius a-and… and without the constant pain. You know I didn't even had a name in there, I was just some number. All the times I felt the control cease a little, I would turn... violent and unable to be contained. And that was all they knew of me, the same way all you know from me is this what you've been seeing in the last months. The difference is that the control went away, the pain has stopped, and you are taking care of me instead of testing and controlling and hurting me."

When she finished, they all had bittersweet expressions on their faces as a reaction to the youngest Mulder's words.

It was good to know they were really going to the right direction, and it was easy to understand now she had put it down into words - but it was an aberration to the Wanderers, Mulder and Scully to think that the P.C. didn't even know there was a kind, shy, smart, powerful but controlled side to Sam because she had always been some testing animal to them without anything in her but rage, raw power and a permanently scarred body. She would never be "ready for society" at all by such standards and the P.C. would never see past that anyway - not to mention it only showed they were too stupid to use basic psychology, Muggle or Magical; having knowledge in those fields, both Mulder and Scully just thought what exactly the P.C. was expecting from Sam if they were only inflicting pain on her.

It also deeply pained Sam to be now aware that she could have been returned if she knew how to behave, or what to do.

Mulder held his sister's hand as he was more than aware of how upset she was. He felt her own hand hold it in return.

"The P.C. never saw past Sam's 'shell' of violence and instability... but they were able to see past anything in Cassandra Spender's case…" continued Byers, thinking out loud.

"Well…", continued Mulder. "Maybe in Cassandra Spender's case, she was considered fit to return because she was taken for the first time as an adult, so she was able to understand things a child would never be able to. She also knew how things worked outside the facility, how to behave to please them, etc. Things that you, Sam, didn't have the opportunity to learn for you were taken so young."

"God, it all makes sense.", added Scully. "Of course they didn't want an army of robots, they wanted _people_ behind all this power they are _'bestowing_ ' to Abductees. I think that's also another reason why they stopped experimenting so much on people after a while, just like Monica told us the other night: not only because they wanted the subjects to live, despite not being able to reach their goals with them, but also because of that: they didn't want to go way too far and destroy people's brains and their personalities."

"First of all, I don't know what a robot is", started Frohike. Langly rolled his eyes at his Muggle ignorance. "but by Patrick Crump's case and others we've seen here, frying someone's brain was something that happened quite often in that place..."

He then realized what he had just said and turned to Sam.

"I'm so sorry, Sammy."

"That's okay, Frohike.", she replied, trying not to think of the mental image it could bring to her.

"Well… yeah, exactly.", agreed Scully, continuing the subject. "Literally and metaphorically. Like in the case of that boy we investigated years ago in Bristol in our first case together..."

"Billy Miles?", he answered her.

"Yes, him. He was returned with little to no sanity left to him…", and after a pause, she added, "And there is another thing about this Cassandra. Smoking Man is also known as 'C.G.B. _Spender'._ "

The Wanderers widened their eyes.

"Is she his wife?", inquired Langly.

"Or maybe a relative? A sister?", added Byers.

"We are not sure. But you know how I don't believe in coincidences." said Mulder. "And here it doesn't say if she had a husband, but it says she has… had? Anyway, it says she has a son called Jeffrey Spender. We had the displeasure to know him back at school."

"This raises a whole new set of questions." added Scully. She then added, sounding as confused as she sounded horrified, "If she is connected to Smoking Man… why is she involved in the experiments?"

"Maybe she wasn't 'enough of a witch' for him.", answered Frohike, grimly. The hint of anger in his words was also not subtle. "Or maybe dude only cares about himself, would not be a surprise from what we've seen about him so far."

Sam observed as they talked about this man, Spender. She was aware by what they've told her he was the one behind all of this, but for now he was only a faceless character to her, as distant from her as the sun was.

She absolutely hated him, nonetheless.

Without solid answers or any other theories, they all went back to their reading, feeling like they had progressed at least a little. It didn't take much longer for one of them to reach those piles that were now growing smaller and pick up an old report regarding experiments with a child - if the readings were not being pleasant at all up to that point, it became even worse with those.

They were pretty much exactly like the other files they've read previously, but the fact they were kids, and that they also inevitably pictured Sam being in those kids' places made the experience ten times more difficult.

There was a lot they couldn't really understand about what was done to the victims due to the fact the P.C. would often use words and terms in the documents they had no idea what they meant. On the other hand, what they _could_ understand was that Abductee experiments consisted in taking the entire blood out of the person and temporarily replacing it with potions that would act exactly like blood, transporting O2 / CO2 and nutrients around the body; they would alter the blood using both Star Elf magic and instruments, changing the very nature of the human blood and returning it to the person it belonged.

"And that was the main difference between a wizard/witch and a Muggle or Squib - their nature and physiology.", Scully had explained to them once more about how DNA and genetics worked. "Magic is pretty much like someone having blue eyes or dark skin or straight hair: it's something that's passed down to the offspring, and sometimes specific genetic combination can give Muggle parents a child with magic, or to Wizard parents, a child without any magic at all. Magical power isn't something that can be learned or unlearned - one is either born with it, or one isn't. And the most horrifying thing is that the P.C. is somehow succeeding to actually _change that_ , for Star Elf magic apparently has enough power to alter someone's genetic code just like that…"

"And that probably makes it the most dangerous kind of magic we will ever hear of...", Mulder completed her thought, a grim expression in his green eyes.

"Exactly.", she continued. "Human magic also has the power to change the very nature of things - like turning a rat into a teacup and turning it back. But it is _a completely different story_ when it comes to Transfiguring or making _someone_ love you without their consent, trying to bring people from the dead, ripping one's soul into different shards. That's when such powers are just considered _extremely dangerous_ or just plain, strictly forbidden Dark Arts."

The change of blood was the main experiment and the one that would really give someone powers, but they would also use the Star Elf magic by casting it on the subject in different ways and circumstances to "enhance" smaller powers or to bring out any ability that could still be dormant even with the tampering of the blood. The Purity Control would do that by manipulating the magic themselves, injecting alien substances into the body of the victims or making them handle vessel parts and other objects of alien origin - like Max Harden for example, who only got his super speed ability when he was forced to stand on a broken piece of vessel.

To evaluate how powerful the abductees were, the P.C. would force them to perform whatever powers they had in them by the extensive use of enhanced Imperius Curses. If the victim refused to do so or resisted in any way - or was just "being difficult", as the P.C. itself defined it in the documents -, they would resort to enhanced Cruciatus Curses, as Scully learned through Sam's reports.

Everyone felt their eyes burn with tears or even shed a couple of them at some point during the readings, no exceptions. They wished none of that was real, but the evidences were right there in front of them in the form of piles and piles of parchments and documents, and in the form of the youngest Mulder child who was right there next to them.

One of the things Mulder was learning about Sam was how she would just go silent - in real voice or mindvoice - whenever she was feeling really, really upset. He reached his wand and with a wave, a mug of hot cocoa showed up in front of his sister. She seemed a bit pale and tired, but he also wanted to comfort her, knowing how fond she was of chocolate.

She just glanced up at him with a tiny smile of thanks on her lips and reached out to her mug. And once more, Mulder reassured her as he did so many times in the last couple of days.

 _You are alright, and you are safe._  
 _  
_We are right here with you, Sam.

 _[three days prior - April 4, 1996]_

It didn't take much for Skinner to find out where Ostlehoff was currently living - as the Assistant Director of the Department of Mysteries and also having his own web of secret contacts, even Scott Ostlehoff couldn't hide from him any further.

On the following night of her desertion, Reyes already had his address in hands.

Not surprisingly, it was in a rich neighborhood, where all the rats like him would normally make their nests. She wouldn't have much time, and his place would definitely be heavily secured, so she planned carefully all of her moves.

She sighed in relief once more that Ostlehoff didn't have a family - it was encouraged that a man of his position in the P.C. could have his affairs if he wanted, but not settle with anyone and much less have children. Of course some didn't care and would have families anyway, but she was glad Ostlehoff decided to follow the Purity Control rules.

She Apparated outside his building and observed, smoking a cigarette out of sheer anxiety.

Invading residences wasn't a problem for her, really - in fact, she was trained by his own people to do exactly that years before, which meant she would do anything she had to do in order to achieve her goals and that was probably the biggest irony of the century, in many levels.

But being used to play dirty and resource to violence didn't mean she liked it.

Monica would always hate it _the most_ , actually, no matter how many times she had to torture and kill before. It was almost like trying to decide she no longer needed to breathe, so against her nature it was, but she literally had no choice.

Whether she did it then, or she would be the one resting with the fish.

Whether she did it right now, or everything built for years up to that moment would be in vain. Everything would remain the same, and she couldn't possibly bear that possibility.

 _That's my only chance to make things right, or at least a little less wrong_ , she thought to herself.

And that was the last thing that crossed her mind before casting spells of Silence around and inside the building, and breaching all the safety and security spells with ease, exploding Scott Ostlehoff's door.

Needless to say how the Auror would be surprised by how tables would turn that night.

* * *

 **Author's Nothes:**

A little side note about Scully's dreams - the bells she hears sound exactly like here in Kalafina's "Into the Water": /watch?v=E0nkZfvoqnc

I thought it would be nice to show one of my major inspirations for the dream parts! Another major inspiration was Journey (the game) and its soundtrack.


	11. Crime and Punishment

**Author's Notes:  
** I've decided to add header illustrations on all of the chapters - and maybe even more than that, but that's still up to debate, haha. However, I am only able to post them the way they should look like in the text there over on AO3 - my user there is also InannaOfTheMoon, and the fanfic has the same name as here, too. So, check it out there as well to see the illustrations! :)

* * *

 _[a month prior - the Fourth]_

 _The mountain wasn't neverending, like the desert seemed to be._

 _It took her a long time and some blood drawn from her feet and hands, but it did not took forever as the first part of her journey did._

 _She reached the top, stood up and looked forward._

 _Instead of a mountain's top or trees or snow, she saw she was already inside a building. She looked back and, as if she was still outside, she saw the mountain fall and the desert extending towards the horizon, the stone path trailing up like a snake warming itself under the sand._

 _Confused, she turned to look forward again and once more she was immediately inside a place as large as an airplane warehouse._  
 _  
It didn't really look like one, however, nor it had airplanes in it - the walls and floor were all the same, and they were so white her eyes were stinging in its pristine brightness. There were no windows, so she couldn't tell if it was day or night, but it was very illuminated inside anyway._

 _She looked up and saw the domed ceiling, also bright white in color. The light inside the building seemed to be coming out of nowhere and everywhere at the same time._

 _It could have been an entirely different dream if it were not for two things that definitely linked that place to the desert and the mountain she had just climbed: first, her never ending march, no matter what she tried to do to stop and turn around and run away and second, the bells reverberated everywhere in that domed place._

 _The only thing guiding her was her already well-known instinct, for the bells seemed to be coming from all directions and even though she was indoors, the wind seemed to follow her wherever she went._

 _Her anxiety was increasing again - all the brightness was upsetting her, making her eyes hurt and her head pound and her heart pounded just as hard with the rhythm of the bells that seemed faster than before when she was still at the side of the mountain._

 _The bells reverberated everywhere, but they still sounded as distant as she felt from herself._

* * *

 _[present - April 9th, 1996]_

It was on day five when Kevin finally lost his patience.

He tried to ask his mum whenever he could about their current situation - why they had moved to the Uncles', where her boyfriend's strange sister had been all this time, but for his surprise he only got evasive or vague answers from her. She had never been like that before, whatever he asked her, she would answer him in the bat of an eye.

He wondered for a second if her bad dreams had anything to do with how strange she was acting - that was the most obvious answer to him. But maybe both had to do with whatever she wasn't telling him.

And since she and the Uncles and Mulder were not telling him anything - and he still felt too shy around Sam to ask her about it -, he would try to find it out for himself.

He stood up, turned off his record player - which worked like a regular Muggle one, except it would spin the LP's with the use of magic - and jumped over his Quidditch board game towards the room's entrance.

He slowly opened a small gap between the door and the frame and peeked outside. He only heard the distant noise of paper turning - if they were talking downstairs, Kevin knew he would not be able to hear anything because of the Silence Spell cast around the second floor. He asked himself if he would be Silent for them too, he had never really thought about that before.

But he wouldn't take any risks - wearing socks not to make any noise, he very slowly opened the door of his room and went out to the corridor. He was about to open his mum's door right by his, when he remembered Sam's room was the first door on the now very long corridor.

He looked at her closed room - was it locked?

As any kid about to do something they really shouldn't, he was completely aware he shouldn't do it, but he did it anyway. It was for a good cause, he thought. He wouldn't be breaking into someone else's room if it wasn't the fact he really wanted to know what was going on and no one was telling him anything - that's how he justified his actions to his own conscience.

He tiptoed to Sam's room, very quietly and slowly pushed the handle down and heard a click.

It was open.

Biting his lower lip with his crooked, still-too-big adult teeth in concentration, he pushed the door open carefully. He looked inside and saw just a normal room: a bed, a nightstand, a wardrobe and shelves over the bed.

He looked around with curiosity, seeing there were many books on and piled up around the nightstand. He came closer to take a look and saw they were pretty much textbooks on magic, mostly on Defense Against the Dark Arts and very advanced Transfiguration, basic Potions, general History of Magic, and many spellbooks varying in difficulty levels. There were also books on Astronomy and magical creatures.

He furrowed his brows in confusion.

Why on Pippi Longsocks' socks would Sam still need textbooks on learning magic, he thought.

For what he had seen a few days before in the house expansion, she was very powerful already. That made no sense at all, the same way the books all drastically varied on grades - there were thin first grader books in there, as well as huge books that seemed extremely complicated to read. He confirmed that by opening one of them to try it: he didn't know what half of the words even meant.

Leaving the book exactly where and how he found it, he went further and peaked inside the drawers. The second and last ones had parchment paper and some notebooks - probably to take notes and help her study, the same way he had different notebooks for Muggle school -, but it was the first drawer's contents that really intrigued him.

There was an absurd amount of flasks containing pills, meds, tea leaves, potions and brews.

He picked up some of them to read their labels. He was not able to understand what some of them were because it just listed their composition and how to take them, but among the ones that had their names written were vitamins and supplements, iron pills, Blood-Replenishing and Vitamix Potion, Invigoration Draught, Restorative Potions, and so on. The little boy was a little scared by the amount of meds in there, and by his experience with his biological father, who had psychological issues and had to take a lot of pills a day in order to function, he knew _that_ amount of pills and potions was not a good sign at all.

It nonetheless explained why Sam seemed fragile and ill-looking.

He asked himself what kind of health issue she might had, and if she would be able to be cured from it someday - the last thought made him purse his lips and instinctively fidget with the little golden medal he had all the time around his neck, mostly kept under his shirt.

He was about to close the drawer when the glimpse of something bright on its bottom caught his eyes. He looked closer and instantly recognized the same wrapping paper of the chocolates his mum carried around with her in her Healer's Pouch. He was finally able to understand something while looking at the contents of that drawer.

On his first night in his new home, everything was strange to him, of course - he would never see his first mum again and even though Dana was being gentle and kind, it was still a scary, difficult first night in his brand-new life.

He understood Sam because he did exactly the same thing with the wrap of the first chocolate bar Dana Scully ever gave to him, on that very first night as her son. He smiled to himself, because of his mum and because of Sam, who apparently was able to find some comfort in a piece of chocolate just like he did almost a year before.

* * *

It was on day five when they finally were able to find something really relevant. But before that, it was also on day five of readings when they received the first news about what was going on at the Ministry with the Special Aurors' disappearance.

Around 6PM that afternoon, Byers Apparated back home from work as he always did - none of the Wanderers needed permission to come in because they were the owners of the house and they were all magically bonded to it, as Sam had learned on the first days she started to hang around downstairs.

Mulder was the one who asked.

"So, how is the Ministry without the best Aurors that place could ever have?"

"Skinner already spread the rumours you two will be on a leave, period not determined. And the forged evidences of your whereabouts are already out there, as the Director Assistant promised.", he answered, leaving his briefcase on his desk on the other side of the big room. "It got to my floor. You know how gossipy the people in my Department are, ironically enough for the Department for the Communication Regulations… hm, there's even… I've even started to hear some... _theories_ on why you guys left."

Scully raised a brow - she was aware the M-Files were kind of an inside joke in the Department of Mysteries itself for cases were always so vague and they more than often wouldn't have a definitive conclusion, so she worried a little about those " _theories_ ".

On the other hand, Mulder smirked as if he was having the time of his life.

"Come on Byers, share with the rest of the class."

Byers walked to the table and sat with them on one of the chairs that remained empty. He seemed weirdly uncomfortable with the situation.

"Oh... you know... Rumours you two were 'finally fired' and the Ministry found a better use of the public money, because even though no one there knows you two are Unspeakables for the DoM, you are still Aurors and you never really show up with a 'regular' solved case. Just the usual.", he answered.

But they all knew Byers and they knew he was omitting something more.

"And… what else?", inquired Scully, her brow still raised and her arms crossed over her chest in distrust over the situation. Byers moved on his chair, fidgeting a little.

"Oh, just… you know, absurd gossip. The one that says you are on a leave because you finally got married is... _the lighter one_ ", he said, not really noticing the Special Aurors' faces. "I was worried… and _truly mad_ actually, when I heard people say you disappeared because Mulder… hm…"

"Because I, what...?", asked Mulder, over Byers' hesitation, who just sighed and finally answered.

"Their gossip is that you, Mulder, ran away because you are now wanted for dealing with Death Eaters. You know, after Arthur's attack right in the Department of Mysteries, and how some Ministry people are indeed disappearing suspiciously... and how people think you two kind of stand out for being 'weird', not following protocols and keeping to yourselves all the time. It is not really news a lot of people think Mulder is… kind of crazy. In a bad way. Some find that highly suspicious and even dangerous now that there is also the rumours of Voldemort coming back last year."

Scully let escape an impatient mumble.

"And Mulder and I are considered _the weirdos_ \- we are not as nearly as _creative_ as these people, Jesus. What about me, am I a Death Eater too, now?", she asked.

Byers had an almost grim look on his face. Scully easily noticed that.

"Byers…? What _exactly_ are they saying about us?"

He hesitated again, but this time he just made a worried expression and continued.

"According to their _ridiculous_ theory, you disappeared too because… because you are a _Muggle-born..._ and hanged out with ' _Death Eater', 'weirdo_ ', Fox Mulder..."

He didn't really had to complete his sentence for everyone to understand what he meant.

Byers was clearly angry over the implication his friend was not only a Death Eater but also a murderer, and the other Wanderers were not really behind in their feelings. Sam was a little confused, but even she was still able to understand her brother was being accused of turning to the Dark Arts, and she was aware her family's Slytherin pride and beliefs had probably something to do with it - her classes with the Wanderers so far gave her enough information to understand that.

Scully mumbled in disbelief and anger, controlling herself not to slam the table with her fist, wanting to show first hand to these people that if there was someone prone to extreme violence when very threatened or very provoked, this someone was - contrary to the obvious popular belief in there - herself and not Mulder.

For once Mulder didn't find something to laugh even when the situation was very bad or absurd.

This was _way too bad and absurd._

He could stand anything - being the Spooky from the DoM, the useless Auror to the rest of the Ministry, or even being aware that there was a major underground bet running for years, over when he and Scully would show up married or when she would show up pregnant, in a sad irony; he wouldn't care for any of that. But being distrusted or even _hated_ to the level people thought he had _murdered_ his Muggle-born partner for being a Death Eater was an entirely different matter.

 _You know you are the one I would trust with my life, Mulder, and you wouldn't disappoint me on that. You never did. Fuck these people._ , said Scully to him. Her words were kind and true, but her mindvoice sounded as upset and angry as he felt about it himself. While he didn't answer, she was still able to feel he had gently accepted her words.

"Since I officially don't know you or Scully there", said Byers. "I wasn't able to intervene in your defense, though I wanted to very badly. I really apologize for that, Mulder."

"No, no, don't worry, Byers. I wouldn't want you to be accused of being 'my accomplice' for defending me. And I wouldn't want you to blow up this cover, either. You know you are our eyes inside the Ministry now, along with the Skin-Man.", the Auror answered, visibly upset.

Sam held his hand, in a reassuring manner, not really finding words to tell him mind-to-mind. Not to mention that, if there was one killer Mulder, this one was her and not her brother.

Langly's face reflected the tone of his voice very well when he exposed his own opinion on the subject.

"Fuck these idiots, man. We know you are none of this things. Fuck these idiots.

"Well, the comeback to the Ministry will be a fun one, it seems.", he said, bitter. Following Scully's example from days before, he locked his thoughts inside and went back into practical-working mode. There was no time for that anyway, and discovering more about the Purity Control and its location was their top priority at the moment. He picked up the report and resumed his reading, soon being followed by the others.

No one noticed when, in the middle of this, Dana Scully threw a brief look towards the staircase with a worried expression, knowing exactly what her son had just done upstairs.

* * *

Even if he didn't really understand most of what he had found out, Kevin decided he had discovered enough about Sam and that he shouldn't push his luck any further. He closed the drawer and tiptoed back to the main corridor, his socks muffling any noise his light steps might have done, closing the door slowly behind him.

He then went to his mum's room, opening the door carefully.

It looked pretty much like her room back in their house. He wasn't sure what he was looking for in there, but he thought he would know if he saw it. He looked around and saw nothing different from the previous nights he had been there to guard his mother's sleep as he had been doing during the last months.

He decided to investigate a little further, inside the nightstands' drawers and the dresser under the large window.

It happened when he had barely touched the last drawer on the dresser.

The huge eagle of light materialized, coming out from the dresser, the large wings wide open in a wingspan larger than Kevin himself as it flew up and let itself land on the surface of the furniture it came from.

When it spoke, it spoke with his mum's voice.

 _You know you shouldn't do this, Kevin._

The little boy swallowed hard, his cheeks burning red in embarrassment, as if it was his own mother looking down at him in disapproval and not her Safety Spell only mirroring her Patronus and voice. He looked at his own socks, expecting a major scolding that would actually be his first with Dana.

 _I don't want you to see what is in here because they are things you are not ready to see, and things you are not yet prepared to understand_ , the Patronus eagle told him. _It will cause you more nightmares, and I don't want you to go through that._

 _However…_

Kevin looked up at the Golden Eagle's bright silvery eyes, feeling its hesitation.

 _However… the drawer is not locked. I trust you will decide what is the best for you, honey. I love you._

And then, it just dissolved as if it was made of pure smoke and light, leaving the boy standing there fidgeting with his little golden medal, very conflicted and with one of the biggest decisions of his entire life.

* * *

Scully knew right away when the spell was activated, which meant Kevin had been snooping around on things he shouldn't. She was aware of the possibility of him doing such thing - he had been asking so many questions about their current situation, and most of all, because he was only a curious child. That's why she made sure to take care of it beforehand. She kept some annotations and some of the documents regarding Sam inside the bottomless drawer in her dresser. But even though the Safety Spell let her know when Kevin touched the drawer, she decided to take a different turn on it.

She would later talk to him and see what he had decided to do. The Healer-Auror knew that she was putting a lot of trust on a ten year-old, but she also knew her son was a smart child and she wanted to be able to trust that he will do the right thing regardless of her being with him or not. That was probably their first, real parent-child test of this kind.

She sighed, trying to control her deep concern over her little boy, and focused again on Sam's reports, also trying not to think too much about a child Sam being tested either, when she read the descriptions of precisely that.

She was being able to discover a lot about the youngest Mulder, nonetheless - or, as Samantha Mulder was known for twenty years of her life, _Subject B034_. The Healer was reading the reports of 1982, which meant Sam was fifteen by then, and that's when Scully noticed the changes on how they used to deal with her.

At first, she would have to be kept under Imperius all the time because she was very aggressive and "difficult to manage" - _like a little fighter_ , she thought, a sense of pride in her chest as if Sam was her own sister. As Sam grew older, she became easier to deal with and Scully felt like she would vomit if she read the word "docile" once more; it was probably because the Imperius was already working in the process of brainwashing her.

Until she turned fifteen.

That's when she started to develop her stronger powers and might have started to hear Mulder's voice in her mind, and while she had completely forgotten who she really was, Sam knew she _had been_ _somebody,_ once called "Samantha". It was probably something like a distant memory echoing in her head that she could not fully reach, but it was still somewhere in there.

The most wonderful thing however, is that the P.C. was never able to pick up what had changed her: up until that moment, she had been a very easy, successful subject to experiment with in their opinion, and then out of the blue her mind becomes harder and harder to control once more. Of course, that sadly led to an even more aggressive approach towards the young girl. The Imperius was reinforced with Star Elf magic and artifacts, and pain was often applied so she would submit to their experiments.

The period between her fifteen and twenty years old was almost harder than reading her childhood in that awful place. At some point during her readings, Scully even had to pretend to go to the restroom so she could give herself a pause from it and pull herself together.

The fact she was Samantha's Healer and Doctor made things even worse for she knew the aftermath of everything she had been reading - she was right there in the main room, keeping them company as she studied one of her spell books to learn what the Magic she was able to perform was actually called, because she never had the opportunity to live as a normal kid, like Scully had, like Mulder had. The Healer was also kind of glad that apparently, Sam still had a lot of blocked memories from the years she had spent under the heavy hands of the Purity Control. It was already being hard for the young woman to deal with what she could actually remember.

After giving herself some time alone, Scully went back to the main room and continued the task she gave herself and promised to finish. Alongside the horrors, there were also the discoveries regarding Sam's physical characteristics, her development as an Abductee, her powers and their extension.

Something that had been a mystery so far was why Sam's eyes would shine every time she used her powers, or why her blood was green, but Scully's wasn't.

To enhance the abductee's blood, they used some kind of alien form or material - it was a little unclear for the P.C. would sometimes describe things in such a cryptographic way. They would pour drops of it in the subject's eyes and in their blood everytime they took it out, among other experiments, but that one being the most important test.

And the answer to the mystery regarding the blood's color, as the reports had told the Healer, was because the blood would only retain such characteristics after a lot of that alien material had been infused into the abductee's body, becoming ingrained with it - to Sam, that happened when she was around twenty two years old, as she reached the sixth level of the experiments.

Scully was tested until she was a type 4 and then she was returned, probably due to the high damage done to her body. She remembered her own reports from when she was mysteriously brought to St. Mungus, on the brink of death - it described her blood was unusually dark, the color of coffee. It returned to its natural, deep crimson color as soon as her body started to heal. It had been sort of a mystery why it was like that until she started treating Sam, but it still wasn't clear on how and why she didn't have green blood too.

That also opened another door of questions.

The development of the experiments was quite unpredictable because one person's physiology is so different from someone else's. The Healer reached the fourth level at one month of experiments - unable to read her own file, she speculated that the tests done on her were much more concentrated and aggressive for her to reach that level in such a small gap of time. It would also explain her nearly destroyed body when she showed up. Maybe she was even part of another segment of the experiments or something, because Sam reached her fourth level at the age of twelve, the fifth at the age of nineteen and the seventh level near the date of her escape from the facility. Scully wondered if her escape had anything to do with that - it was very likely. Not only Sam's resistance to the Imperius played its part on her flight, but also the growth of her powers were also the key she needed out of that place.

Her powers were another part of this mystery: not only she was able to Transfigure anything with excellence - including herself -, but her spells and fighting abilities were described as being so good it actually scared the Healer a little. They've tested her powers and, under the P.C.'s control, she was basically a super soldier that could even turn invisible on her own, confirming what Reyes had told them days before. Sam's Protego Spell was literally described as "invincible".

According to Byers' reports on their DADA classes, she was good but still had a lot to learn, not to mention her physical limitations.

While she knew Sam's health was a big issue on how much she could use her powers, there was something odd going on. How was she able to fully use her powers in the Facility, but outside she couldn't? Could it be the mind control in action, as if Sam had literally some kind of mental block now that she is fully aware of who she is and what she is capable of? That still didn't explain how she wouldn't lose all of her energy and just fall dead.

A new theory and solution had just started to form in her mind when something else caught her attention.

"Found it!", called Frohike happily as he stood up and his friends all turned to look at him in anticipation. "The confirmation we needed, right here."

He placed the parchment on the table and pointed out.

"This is a letter, apparently from the person in charge of the Facility, not identified of course, to someone called Fowler."

Scully made a sound of disdain and looked at Mulder, as both once more recognized the name.

 _I will be glad to punch her again if I can_ , she told him.

"It reports Sam's escape and it dates exactly the night she arrived here three months ago."

"' _Last seen at Sayan Mountains, near Parabola Rock… disappeared without a trace… unable to detect her current location"_ , read Langly, who was right at Frohike's side. He then turned to Mulder and Sam. "This is it, guys. That's in Tunguska."

"What will we do, then?", asked Sam, not really hiding the urgency in her voice.

"Now that we sort of know the area the Facility might be, we can try to triangle it using the Tracking Maps before anything.", explained Byers. "And when we find the exact location with those, we can start to plan what we will do with it."

"Skinner also mentioned a few days ago Reyes might have more to tell us soon, according to him, 'if all goes well', whatever that means, he didn't tell me anything beyond that.", said Mulder. "But still, it will help us tremendously to elaborate a plan."

They still had a lot of documents to read, and Scully wasn't even near finished with Sam's papers, but now with the location confirmed they all agreed that five days straight reading atrocities was enough and a break from it was more than needed. They had some urgency in stopping the Purity Control, but they wouldn't get anywhere by overexerting themselves.

When she stood up, Mulder turned to her.

 _Are you alright, Scully?,_ he asked, thinking it was only the reports contents that filled her mind.

 _It's Kevin. He was trying to look at some of the documents I left in my room._

 _What? ,_ his expression immediately turning into one of concern. _When, now? How do you know that?_

 _Around two hours ago. I cast a spell on the documents, so I knew when it was activated._

 _Well, that's good then, right? I mean, if you protected the documents, then he will not be able to read them._

Scully didn't answer for a second, which in Legilimency means a huge pause.

 _You did protect the documents, right…?_

 _I… I allowed him to decide if he wanted to read it or not, and face the consequences on his own._

 _Oh..._ her partner answered, understanding the problem. If it was his child-self, he would probably put his hands on the papers as fast as he could if it meant he would learn something he really wanted to know from them. _Hm… do you… do you want me to go upstairs with you...?_

He was not asking her that just to be polite and she knew that. She was able to feel that through the subtle, but still very present note of anticipation and hope in his mindvoice.

 _Well… he also has been asking a lot about Sam. Maybe you should be there, too.,_ she answered. And then she quickly added, _Thank you, Mulder. You really didn't have to._

He stood up, losing a little the track of time - it was usual to feel like it went slower whenever they communicated through Legilimency. It was easier to think they had been just there staring at each other for five minutes straight when in reality only just a couple of seconds had passed by.

Mulder smiled at her in his usual smirk before answering, as if he knew a secret she didn't.

 _He is your child, and you are my partner. Of course I have to._

She was taken a little aback - in a good way. Mulder had his own way of expressing his feelings, but Scully would always get what he truly meant, just like the exchange of thoughts only they were able to understand.

Leaving Sam and the Wanderers downstairs in other activities now that they had decided to give a break from the papers, Mulder's words still echoed in her mind as she moved towards the staircase with Mulder right behind her, but it didn't take long for her head to go back to her previous concerned thoughts, worried that she definitely made a huge mistake in her decision of leaving a decision like that in Kevin's hands. She was more than sure by then that this was what it meant to be a parent after all. Under that thought, she brought her hand towards the small golden medal around her neck, sided by her tiny crucifix.

She undid the Silence Spell and called her son, as they stepped on the corridor. There was the soft sound of music coming from his bedroom.

"Kevin?"

"Here.", he answered.

"Can Mulder and I come in?, she asked, stepping right in front of the door.

"Yeah.", his voice had a guilty hint to it.

Kevin's room, just like Scully's, looked exactly how it looked like in their previous home - the light wooden bed across the door, a matching wardrobe, a little study desk with his Muggle school books and some brand-new first-grader books on magic piled on it, two bookcases crammed with books and shelves with toys and games. His records and player were in a corner, next to the desk. _The Logical Song_ filled the room, which would be a uncommon for a child his age, but not really, considering his birth family.

The boy was laying on his bed, resting over a colorful space-themed quilt and an edition of _The Neverending Story_ open in his hands. As the Aurors got in and Mulder closed the door behind him, he laid the book open across his chest and looked at them with the same guilty face all children have, when they look at their parents whenever they know they've done something wrong and the scolding is just a minute away.

Scully sat on the bed next to Kevin's feet while Mulder simply pulled the chair from the desk near the bed and sat down facing the boy, his dark clothes standing out against the light-wood wardrobe behind him. The music volume was not too high, but the Healer gestured quickly with her hand, making it go a little lower, just a muffle in the background.

"Well, Kevin... You know why we are here.", Scully said. She didn't sound happy with the situation, but her voice still came out calm and soft. "We are not here to yell at you and scold you, you know what you did wrong. We just want to talk and hear from you _why_ you did it."

Kevin stood still for a moment, looking down at his own hands over his book, embarrassed. He sat up and looked first at his mum and then at her partner, and to Scully again before finally speaking.

"I'm so sorry, mum…! I tried to ask you what is going on, you know I did but you never answered anything.", the little boy poured. "We left our house, we went to two different countries in one night to leave grandma, Aunt Melissa, Charlie and Bill somewhere else. Y-you… You are having some weird dreams for _months_ now, I woke up with you crying in your sleep a million times already... "

Mulder glanced at Scully in surprise - she had told him about the dreams and how scary they were to her, but she never added in the detail about waking up _in tears_ because of them. Meanwhile, Scully was taken aback by the boy's concern and sudden torrent of words.

"I'm sorry mum, I really am.", he repeated, sour tears of regret forming in his eyes. "I-I am scared..."

He paused for a couple of seconds, before looking up at both Aurors again and adding: "I didn't look inside the drawer. I promise I didn't."

Scully's expression softened over Kevin's confessions and tears. She extended one arm towards him and he quickly crawled towards her, wrapping his arms around her at the same time she did the same to him.

"I believe you, Kevin.", she said, his head under her chin. "It was nonsense to think you wouldn't notice anything, and I didn't answer any of your questions."

Mulder then observed as his partner gently pushed the little boy away from their hug to look at her son.

"I wasn't being honest with you. I am the one who's sorry, honey.", she apologized.

"It's okay, mum. I shouldn't have gone into your room… a-and... Sam's...", he confessed, glancing nervously at Mulder as he wiped a tear from his eye; not really wanting to get in more trouble, but not wanting to lie either.

"Why did you do that?", asked Mulder, his voice sounding genuinely curious and not angry at all.

Kevin looked at him with damp eyes, a bit surprised.

"I wanted to know more about her... She is… kind of quiet. And no one ever talked about her before."

"And what did your investigations told you about her?", the Auror asked, looking very serious but not angry or offended by the fact the boy broke into his sister's room. He actually just wanted to know what exactly Kevin saw in there.

Not really expecting that reaction, Kevin hesitated a little before speaking.

"Oh.. hm… she... she seems to be very ill? She has a lot pills and healing potions in her nightstand.", he said, glancing at his mum and looking back at Mulder. "And I think she likes to read books on Magic, she has a bunch of them."

"Anything else, Kevin?", asked Scully.

"That's all I saw. I promise.", he repeated.

"Well, that's pretty much it. Maybe you should consider a career as an Auror, too.", Mulder told him, feeling oddly proud of the child for being so much like Scully, though the circumstances were even odder. And knowing what was going through Kevin's mind without needing Legilimency skills for that, he asked, "What do you want to know about her?"

"Who is she?", Kevin asked without hesitation this time, seeing the opportunity to finally learn about what was happening. "Why I've never seen her here before? Was it because she was ill…?

"Whoa whoa, slow down, racing broom.", Mulder said with a soft laugh. "Well. Her name is Samantha Ann Mulder. She turned twenty nine in January. And she is indeed my younger sister."

He then glanced at Scully for a second before continuing.

"We can't tell you the full story of what happened, mostly because that's _her_ story and it is very personal. But I can tell you she had been… missing. For many, many years. That's why we've never talked about her, because it was very hard for me to do so. She went through a lot of bad things, and her health is fragile because of that - that's why she has to take a lot of healing potions daily and the reason why she has to eat a lot. She was able to come back to us three months ago, and she is living here with the boys since then."

Kevin made a silent " _oh!_ " expression, as all the information given to him sank in.

"Why is she reading school textbooks? She performs magic without a wand! That's pretty hard to do, isn't it?"

"Hm… let's say her magic is instinctive.", answered Scully. "Sam couldn't attend school when she was younger, that's why she is studying now. She knows how to do things, but she doesn't know why they happen, the names of spells and charms, and she also has to learn about other subjects, like magical creatures and potions, for example."

He listened to his mother's answer, thoughtful. That was a really weird concept, going to school after you are an adult, he never met anyone like that before. And speaking about school, there was another thing he really wanted to ask.

"Hm… why are we living here, too? I am not going to school anymore, and you didn't go to work this entire week… Are we hiding…?"

The tip of Scully's tongue moved towards the corner of her lips, a habit she had whenever she was angry or stressed, and Mulder let out a heavy sigh. The Aurors looked at each other - they didn't know how to answer that without frightening the child even more about their situation.

"It is just a precaution.", answered Scully.

"Against what?"

For the first time the Healer regretted a little motivating Kevin to ask questions and always wanting to know more and more.

"We don't really know. We just know that someone _might_ be looking for us, because of our work as Aurors.", white-lied Mulder. "That's why it is just a precaution."

 _Thank you._ , Scully told Mulder, mind-to-mind.

They promised to answer the child's questions, but he thought that being fully honest and tell him that an underground experimenting organization was after his sister to kidnap her again, and was after all of them and their families to commit mass-murder was a little too much.

"That's why you are working downstairs lately? To find out who is this person?", he asked, looking at his mother.

"Yes.", that wasn't really a lie, she told herself, feeling bad for not telling the truth even though they had all the reasons in the world not to. "We are investigating it."

"Ohhh…. Okay.", Kevin seemed to believe them enough.

"Are there any more questions you want to ask?", inquired Mulder.

"No, I think I'm good. Hmmm… I am sorry again, mum."

"You've already apologized, honey, no need to apologize again.", she told him. "Just please, don't do that _ever again_ , Kevin. Going into someone's room and things without their permission is very serious. Would you like if someone came in here without your permission and looked through _your_ stuff?"

" _Ugh_ , no.", he answered, cringing at the thought and, at some extent, his own actions earlier.

"Exactly. I'm not going to ground you this time, because you seem to be genuinely sorry about it, and… well, I am not going to pretend I didn't cause it either, by not answering your questions before. But if that ever happen again, it is going to be an entire month without books or games or records. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mum.", the boy replied, looking like that punishment would be the worst of nightmares.

"Good.", Scully said, ending the subject with a soft smile and gesturing for another hug. Kevin hugged her in return. When they pulled away, the boy turned to the other Auror.

"Hmmm... Mulder?"

"Yes?"

The boy's expression was very concerned for he didn't know the youngest Mulder sibling at all, and he felt very guilty now for what he had done.

"Are you going to tell Sam what I did…?"

"No.", he answered. "I don't think that would be a good idea, and _we know_ you didn't mean any harm. You were really sorry about it and you apologized, so I think it is all cleared."

"Thanks, Mulder!", Kevin said with relief in his voice and expression.

"At your service, Auror.", he answered with a smile.

* * *

Her hands were shaking and her heart felt like it was going to explode over the crippling fear. She just wanted to turn around from all of this and leave forever, but she couldn't do such thing.

Scott Ostlehoff looked down at his prisoner, his chiseled face a wall blank of any expression. He thought of the precise numbers he had probably thought a hundred times over before Apparating away to his destination.


	12. Of Wands and Maps

_[two days prior - April 11th, 1996 - ?]_

 _She opened her eyes and the bright lights once more hurt her sight._

 _The same hopelessness and powerless feeling struck her like a jab on her face, but there was something... different going on._

 _She wasn't in the desert._

 _It wasn't the mountainside, or the domed maze, either._

 _It was a room covered in white tiles, a blinding white light coming from above._

 _She wasn't alone._

 _Laying down in the middle of the white room, smudged silhouettes walked around her in an unnatural, slow-motion way and their voices overlapped in ominous whispers. The excruciating pain and cold, followed by a crushing weakness was the next thing she felt before seeing a tank nearby being filled with a dark, thick liquid._

 _She was suffocating._

 _Her body tried to pull the air in but it couldn't, no matter how deep she would breathe. Her sight went black as her lids were forced open and her eyes burnt like they had drops of acid on them._

 _It wasn't longer until the crippling pain and the lack of oxygen in her brain stole all conscience from her._

Her eyes flew open, this time in real life. The pooled tears ran down to her pillow in long streams.

She didn't shake or jump or sit all of a sudden, she simply woke up so still it was almost like she was having sleep paralysis. However, it was evident the heaviness pinning her down was just plain and simple exhaustion. Her eyes burnt, this time with her tears, her arms had this phantom ache in them and the air she breathed in didn't seem enough to fill her lungs.

Scully turned her head, as heavy as if it had boulders inside instead of her brain, to look at the clock on her nightstand. The fluorescent glow on the charmed display told her it was around 3AM. Her mind, as exhausted as her body felt, couldn't help but reach out two doors away from hers and search for Mulder's.

She was not surprised to find him still awake so late.

In an odd mix of his apartment living room and his own bedroom, Mulder was laid in his water bed, mindlessly listening to an early hours radio program - it was about Muggles' points of view on fantastic beasts whenever they accidentally saw them - when he suddenly felt the familiar mind of his partner stepping into the shores of his'.

 _Scully…?_

 _It's me_ , she answered, forgetting that obviously it could only be her. He knew right away something was not right.

 _Are you okay…?_

He could almost hear her sigh, even though she was two rooms away and only using her thoughts to speak to him.

 _Can you come over?,_ she asked. He didn't know what made him more apprehensive in her request - her hesitation, or the fact she sounded terrified under her exhausted mindvoice. That was definitely not good.

He left his couch and quickly walked to Scully's bedroom, knocking softly before entering.

Laid on her side of the bed, Scully had blankets covering her but she was curled as if she was very cold. He slipped into bed and held her close to him, leaning his face against her shoulder. She was shivering and he felt her cold hands grab his and place it close to her face, tucked under her cheek.

Knowing her the way he did, he just remained there spooning her, waiting for her to speak up.

 _This nightmare was different from the others._ , she started. _It wasn't the surreal, cryptic scenario from before, it was pretty straight forward. I think it was something else entirely... I think…_ She paused. _I think it was a memory from my own abduction._

It was now clear to him why she was so upset. She always claimed to have no memories or whatsoever of her abduction or her period in the labs, except the moments before the lights took her away from that mountain and from Duane Barry's clutch. And that was bad enough for her to remember, anyway.

 _It's the bloody reports, Scully._ , he said, his practical side uncharacteristically coming forward to find explanations. _It is no mystery you've been very upset by them for a week now since we started reading that stuff, I_ really _can't blame you for feeling like this... You should listen to us and give yourself a break from them, at least for a while now you are almost done with them anyway. Even Sam noticed, she told me yesterday._

The Healer sighed.

 _I know it is connected to the reports... But it really didn't feel like I was making it up, Mulder. It felt like one of the nightmares I have over the things that had actually happened to me… the other dreams I've been having, they are upsetting too but they are something entirely different, those are as if… as if I was in someone else's body, feeling everything they feel, first hand._

He nodded against her in silent understanding. Dreams were a very complicated matter and extremely personal, he knew that well. All these small details and feelings were relevant to the meaning of the dream itself, even in cases when, like Scully, the person has no idea if their dreams or nightmares have any meaning at all.

 _And there is something else…,_ she hesitated again. _I've been feeling very guilty._

 _Oh...? Why?_

 _After the conversation we had with Kevin, I realized how much I've relied on him these last months, emotionally speaking._

 _I see… He was sleeping here too, right? I wondered why he wasn't around, he seemed like a little lion wanting to guard you at all costs._ , he said, a hint of a smile in his tone - the way Kevin had bonded with Scully and wanted to help her so much was, in his opinion, very adorable.

 _Yes, and that's the problem, Mulder,_ she answered, slowly turning around in his arms to look at him. _That was a huge mistake._ _At first, I accepted it because I really..._ needed it _. But after he told us how scared he was about our current situation, about me… I couldn't help but think I contributed a lot to feed his fears and nightmares._

 _For what he mentioned, you were very vulnerable, Scully.,_ he said back, _I've known you for years and I can count in one hand all the times I've seen you cry that way he described - and there would still be a lot of fingers remaining. Don't blame the kid for wanting to help, he loves you a lot and worries about you, the same way you love and care about him._

Scully's expression was a thoughtful one, as she absorbed what Mulder had just said, mindlessly caressing his hand with her thumb. She then looked up at his eyes again, her silent, calmer speech clear in his mind as he watched how her right eye caught the sliver of street light coming from the window, like clean water under the sun.

 _I am really touched he wants to watch over me… and he did help me a lot through the last months. But that is my duty as his mother. The roles were reversed, and I was feeding his fears even more… I've talked to him again earlier. I told him I wanted to deal with this differently now._

 _Knowing him, I guess he wasn't happy about the prospect of leaving you 'unprotected', right?_

 _Yeah, he wasn't._ Her lips curved in a faint a smile. _He is such a kind boy... but I think he understood the situation..._ She sighed again, this time seeming more out of her being sleepy than upset.

 _Better, I hope?,_ he asked with a little smile, bringing a hand to her face and caressing her cheek softly.

 _Yes... Thank you, Mulder._ , her grateful mindvoice told him, thanking him for much more than just what his question had asked her.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead softly as an answer. She came closer and cuddled against him, closing her eyes - her silent demand for him to stay, which he gladly did, wrapping his arms around her.

 _[present - April 13th, 1996]_

When Scully finally agreed on giving the readings a break, they started to focus on other tasks - the first stages of a plan and studying the facility location was some of them.

But that wasn't the only thing being focused on.

Standing in the room the size of a warehouse, Sam looked at the wooden dummies in front of her. She knew she could do this, she thought. She knew she could. She was determined not to let her body control her.

"Get ready… _Now_!", said Byers from behind her and activating the dummies - they started to run through the room and move their wands up towards her.

She stepped forward, her bare feet crossing the space between her and them. Her power flowed inside her and manifested through her glowing eyes, hitting the targets she pointed at with her hand. She would mostly use her left hand but she would also use her right one if the situation asked for it.

 _Expelliarmus! Incendio! Accio wand! Stupefy! Protego! -_ the words would come forward in her mind like a second nature now and would instantly manifest physically as their respective commanded spells. When there were a few dummies scattered around the room, she Apparated closer to them and attacked, her robes swirling around her as if she had wings. One of her opponents actually hit her when she Apparated way too close, staggering her but that didn't stop the witch - she simply casted a _Protego_ again and the enemy was pushed away from her before being defeated with a _Locomotor Mortis_ and _Expelliarmus._

She turned to the last one remaining on the other side of the large room.

 _Carpe Retractum, Reducto!,_ she thought, the last dummy came forward as it was pulled towards her but exploded in a pile of fine, dark purple and green ashes midway. The familiar vertigo sensation that apparently preceded her burnout episodes had started to creep in, so she simply pulled an apple from her robes and took a large bite before the feeling got worse and made her light-headed.

"Very good, Sam! You improved _so much_ since our last class!", Byers told her as he got close, an excited, pride-teacher smile on his face. "It was only two weeks ago, you could barely hit four dummies lined right in front of you before you needed to stop."

"The Muggle supplements Miss Scully gave me last Wednesday are really working.", she answered before taking a second bite from her apple, which was one of those that tasted very sweet just the way she liked.

"Yes, it has improved your stamina in at least forty percent, which is very impressive. You are also seem to be growing physical resistance with practice, just like in any other kind of exercise.", he added, genuinely happy to see how better Sam was doing since she came into their lives - hurt, worn-out and terrified of everyone and everything.

After reading Sam's P.C. logs so far and observing how she was responding to her diet, Scully had the idea to prescribe the youngest Mulder a set of supplements used by high-performance Muggle athletes in long-distance bike circuits, triathlons and marathons. Some of them were even fit to be used _during_ the exhausting exercises, giving the person who takes them boosts of quickly-absorbed energy. The Healer was also testing out ways of magically enhance the supplements, making them even more potent and to make them last longer in Sam's system.

Sam wanted to practice her magic really badly in a more efficient way, and Scully wanted to help her with that at the same time improving her health, but both women agreed that the ability of self-defense without falling unconscious due to a burnout was literally a life-or-death skill Sam had to learn, and fast.

It was a miracle - or simply sheer terror with huge shots of adrenaline - she didn't fall dead when she had escaped. Or maybe, she also took some kind of enhancement in the facility and she still got some in her blood before breaking free.

The Healer tried her best not to think of it, but she knew Sam would definitely need her powerful magic at some point in the future, even if just to escape from her captors once more without any duel. Both Scully and Mulder knew way too well than to lie to themselves that Sam - and everyone else in that house - would be safe forever. They never were and they wouldn't be as long as the Purity Control was still out there and acting. The Wanderers' protection was extremely effective but they couldn't rely on that solely. It was an avoided thought, yes, but it was still there in the back of their minds all the time. On the other hand, alongside with all the planning and Sam's training, they were also trying to provide something closer to a normal life for Kevin in that routine of hiding of a guild of eugenicists.

Sitting in a very normal-looking school desk and chair set by a blackboard and watching the training in silence from a safe distance, the boy was no less than starry-eyed by Sam's magic uses in combat. It was actually the first time he had seen what was closer to a real duel, and it was much more exciting and epic than reading it in books or seeing them show him the described battles through Illusion Spells.

He wanted to tell her she was amazing but his shyness around her was still stronger than him - even though Kevin was a hundred percent sure Sam was nice and could see she was very shy herself, she still looked very intimidating in her dark robes and high stature.

She was very unlike Mulder in that way, who was also very tall and almost always wore dark clothes himself.

Byers, who had been greeting Sam on her performance in the middle of the enormous room, turned to look at Kevin and Apparated closer, followed by the youngest Mulder.

"So, how is the Transfiguration going?", he asked, looking at the Sickle the boy was supposed to turn into a butterfly. Frohike was responsible for Transfiguration classes, but since Kevin insisted to see Sam's DADA class just that one time, Scully thought it wouldn't hurt to let him watch a little as long as he practiced, too.

Normally, children weren't allowed to practice their magic like that at home, even when they were already attending school. But Scully always thought that was a bit of nonsense, not letting children learn at home with their parents and also not learn how to control their powers properly so they won't set anything (or anyone) on fire by accident before reaching the schooling age. In her opinion, that strict rule wouldn't help prepare kids for the outside of the school walls either, where everything was - mostly - guarded all the time.

The Healer also didn't see a problem for Kevin to start learning a little earlier, he was already ten years old and would turn eleven in September 29 that year anyway - the Ministry was not able to track activities from a minor in a house full of adult wizards walking around, both when they were back at Scully's and even less now under the Wanderers' heavy protection.

They had made a quick trip to Diagon Alley on last August so Kevin could get his wand - a gorgeous piece engraved with the wood's natural red strokes. Ollivanders was quite intrigued when Kevin was chosen by that one particular wand due to its odd, rare combination of elder wood and phoenix core. After many attempts with at least thirty different wands, some of them quite unique on their own, the elder wood-phoenix was the one. Later that day, while having some ice cream, Scully explained him everything on how the wood, core and flexibility would tell about the Wizard and how it would help them or even give them disadvantages.

She had showed him her own wand in detail and what each of its qualities meant. She then had explained him that his wand would probably be a very difficult one to work with at first because of the phoenix's strong personality, but the combination of both core and wood would definitely allow him to perform very unusual magic in the future.

And what she said was oh, so very true.

Kevin's wand was as stubborn as an old hippogryph and would only do what it wanted just as much. Not to mention Sam's demonstration was so impressive he literally paid attention to anything else and completely forgot about what he was meant to do. He was also a little embarrassed to fail his magic in front of her, when she had been so powerful and on-point with hers.

He lifted his eyes towards the teacher, in a guilty expression.

"Sorry, Uncle Byers. I got distracted.", he quickly looked at Sam, who was a little further behind, and back at Byers.

"Remember what your mother said.", the Wanderer told him, his paternal ways kicking in as usual. "You can stay, but you have to practice."

"I would do that, but my wand hates me."

"Oh, of course it doesn't. It chose you, remember?", Byers laughed. "Come on, try again. Remember the equation, focus this time."

The boy turned to the Sickle on his desk and frowned in concentration.

" _Lasaiafor!"_ , he said with a move of his wand towards the coin. Nothing happened.

It was Sam's turn to just watch over Byers' shoulder and see how Kevin was learning to use the wand - she had no need for one and she admittedly had been very curious about them and their uses the more she learned to control her own, wandless magic. Maybe one day she would be able to get one only for the sake of it. She hoped she one day soon would be able to walk freely outside the house for that.

"Try it like this, Kevin", Byers said and showed him the correct wand move, certain and firm, turning the coin into an orange butterfly and back into coin. "You have to be precise, focused on what you want, otherwise the Transfiguration will have mistakes or simply will not happen."

Kevin tried again, trying to perform the exact same move, and still nothing happened.

"I'm pretty sure this wand picked me by mistake.", he said, frustrated. "I think it was just bored sitting in that store and wanted to leave somehow."

Byers chuckled.

"Just keep trying, kid. You will get the hang of it eventually. Your movements are correct and so is the incantation. It is just a matter of trying it until it comes out right."

The boy sighed and looked at the task in front of him without much hope he would be able to do it that day.

"Hum… try to see it in your mind, Kevin."

He turned to look up at Sam, now standing by the left side of Byers.

"Try... imagining the butterfly the way you want it. It works like that, for me.", she added, looking at the Wanderer as if asking if she said the right thing. Byers answered her with an approving nod.

"Oh… okay.", Kevin said. She rarely talked to him, more out of her own timid ways and not because she didn't like him, so she always sounded a little uncomfortable.

The boy then looked at his own wand.

 _Can you help me out here,_ please _?,_ he thought, looking at the red striped wood. He was only able to perform magic very rarely so far.

Not that he practiced often as he should, anyway.

He then tried to imagine a butterfly, like the ones from the biology and science books he found on Dana's shelves the previous year. Maybe the color was important to focus on, too? He thought of orange. Monarch butterflies were awesome. Or maybe blue, like a Morpho. Yes, he thought, as he set in his mind the image of a Morpho butterfly with bright blue and black wings.

He tried again.

" _Lasaiafor!"_ , he said out loud, maybe with a little bit more intensity than he wanted it to be, and a second later a blue butterfly flew from the desk and landed on his hand that still held his wand up.

"I did it, I did it!", his happiness evident as the butterfly left his hand and started to fly around him. Maybe being polite to his wand and say _please_ was the solution he hadn't thought of before.

"Today is being a good day, it seems.", Byers said with a smile as he examined the flying insect. "No imperfections, vivid color and details. Excellent Transfiguration, Kevin."

"Yes!", he celebrated and then looked at the Witch. "Thanks for the tip, Sam!"

She nodded at him, the boy's happiness passing on to her as she instinctively smiled back.

"Now the other way around, Kevin: butterfly into Sickle. Remember, undoing things are just as important.", Byers told him as he guided the butterfly gently from his robes back to the boy's desk.

Kevin sighed a little on the prospect of fighting his wand once more, but he felt a little more confident this time.

"The Map is showing a big amount of nothing.", Langly sighed in frustration, looking at the large parchment paper on one of the tables in the main room. " _Nothing at all_. Not even the sign of a magical tree standing nearby, _nada._ "

"I am not really having a heart attack over the surprise, to be quite honest.", Frohike replied. "They might be a little sloppy, but they aren't amateurs."

"Yeah, but it still should show something. _Anything._ That what it was made for". Langly wasn't really happy that one of his creations that worked so fine up to now was being very useless when they were needing it the most.

Dark Arts Detector Maps, or simply "DA Maps", were exactly what the name suggested - an instrument to detect and track Dark Arts in action in the region someone decide to look at. Even though the Wanderer was aware it didn't show each and every Dark Art being manifested, he was still hopeful it was going to show something in the Tunguska region since it was probably crawling with it.

"Maybe it is because the magic they are using, or at least most of it, isn't human and therefore it sits in a kind of gray area; the sense of 'right and wrong' we have is... well, human. It does not apply to magical creatures' powers, the rules are different.", Mulder explained.

"Isn't there a way of making it show all the magical activity in the area, then? Regardless of type and species it comes from.", suggested Scully, who was looking down over the blank Map on the table.

"That's… actually a good question, Auror Scully.", Langly answered, his left fingers resting on his chin. "Let's see."

He drew his wand out and tapped the map with it. Nothing changed.

"Ugh, I will have to research and make some tests again.", the Wanderer said, putting his wand away. "But _I think_ it might work, yes..."

"With or without the Maps, we will have to come up with a plan. To be quite honest, I am not sure myself what we should do. Or what we will _be able_ to do.", Frohike told them.

"Well, we are still waiting for Reyes' news. Sam would be able to tell us more about what she remembers from the facility but I don't think we should do that. It can make her very upset and trigger panic attacks."

"Even if it does, she would still want to help all the ways she can, Scully.", Mulder replied.

"I know. That's what I am afraid of. She was hurt enough for a lifetime, I don't want her to be hurt even further.", Scully's face was serious, even more with the dark circles under her eyes that grew deeper in the past weeks.

Mulder answered her with a small, but grateful smile.

 _There's no need to thank me for that, Mulder. Sam is a great person, your sister and my patient. I am more than glad to take care of her._ , she told him back, knowing exactly what he meant even without mindwords.

 _Still._ , he insisted. He then turned to look at Langly, when he talked.

"Speaking of Little Mulder, there's something I've been asking myself. About her abduction."

"What is it?", asked Mulder.

" _Why_ exactly was she taken? Your family has magic for generations and she was not a Squib as far as we know. I know the P.C. snatched magic folk too sometimes, but… I don't know, something seems weird. Not to mention Mulder Senior had some prestige in the Ministry. Unless that is exactly the motivation, that she was taken as a retaliation towards him, for some reason.", the Wanderer conjectured.

Mulder and Scully immediately exchanged a deep, apprehensive look.

"What is it?", Frohike inquired, noticing the Aurors' reaction. "Was it really a retaliation against Mulder, Sir…?"

It was Mulder's expression was worried.

"We asked Reyes about that on the day we visited my mother. She did her own investigation on that, she also thought something was strange about this, even before Spender said this thing to her."

"And what was it?", Langly asked.

"She told us the Smoking Dude mentioned that Sam was taken because my father, he… he was involved in all of this _._ "

Both Wanderers dropped their jaws.

"Are you serious? Why would he be _involved_?", Frohike wanted to know.

"Because he also had his _stupid-ass_ ideas on blood purity and all that nonsense, that part I know myself. He was not that fond of Scully coming over during summer breaks.", he was doing his best to control his anger as he said that, but he wasn't very successful. "Anyway, he thought that joining Spender, years before I was born, was a good idea until it wasn't anymore, after he saw what was being done to people in the labs. What was being done to _children._ By the time Samantha was around five or six, he decided to leave the Purity Control, but he kept being pulled back due to many reasons. Until he definitively left the organization for good. That was in 1974."

"A year before Sam was taken.", Langly realized.

"Yes,", continued the Auror. "All was good and peaceful until 1975 happened and they took Sam as a retaliation against my father's 'betrayal' on them. They thought it would be somewhat funny to just leave my father be, but take one of his children away for a lifetime of experiments."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me. Why on earth he didn't go after her then?", Frohike asked, his anger evident. "He worked for the Chimney Dude, he definitely knew things."

"I was on the list too, Frohike.", Mulder revealed, his voice sounding upset and guilty. "He didn't do anything because of _me_ , because he wanted to protect _me_. He had no chance of defeating them all by himself, so he simply stayed put not to have his other child taken away… So... yeah, Langly, your theory was correct."

The Wanderers looked at their friend with sadness.

Watching the conversation in silence so far, Scully placed a hand on his arm, pressing it softly just like when they heard the story for the first time from Monica, days before. Mulder wasn't one that would let his sorrow be easily noticed, and whenever he did it, she knew it was because it was being really rough on him.

"I really wish I wasn't.", replied Langly. "I'm really sorry about that, Mulder."

"Yeah man, it wasn't your fault. It was your father's decision, not yours. It's on him.", the other Wanderer comforted him.

"Well, anyway. There is nothing that can be done about that. My little sister was taken and tortured for twenty years, and _our father_ is responsible. I didn't have the guts to tell her about it. She still believes she was taken just because sometimes they select wizards and witches to be abducted."

"That's completely reasonable. She hates secrets about her life now, but I don't know if telling her that would make things any better. To be honest, and I say that as an Official Healer and not as a friend, I think it would make more damage than good.", the Healer said, worried. "Maybe you should tell her, but not now, not yet. Things are still way too raw and alive for her and she has just started healing."

"Yes…", Mulder answered, worried, and then looked at Scully. "I will do that. It is not like I have a choice anyway."

"Please eat some more, my fair lady. You've been looking like a freaking ghost lately.", Frohike said, his real concern not really being covered by the humor in his voice.

Scully thought Frohike's manners towards her were exaggerated as always but she did as he suggested, nodding up her head towards the roasted beef cut in large medals on the other side of the table. One of the slices raised up in the air and came precisely to her, landing on her plate.

She started to eat it, listening to the torrent of words coming from Kevin's mouth as he excitedly told her how the day went - being able to perform magic properly for a change really brightened his mood.

"Did you know mum, there are places where magic has to be sang or told as in a story to make them work? Uncle Langly was telling Sam and I today. There is this Bulgarian story-spell that describes a storm coming, and it serves to conjure heavy rain if it doesn't come to water the crops! _It's so cool!_ "

"Did Langly also told you kids that it is also a _very dangerous_ and difficult spell to perform because it requires a lot of people to sing it, otherwise it will kill the casters?", Mulder said as if he was sharing a great, perilous secret.

Sam rolled her eyes at her brother.

"He did. He also told us it only killed someone two or three times in all history because they were struck by lightning from the storm they had just conjured."

"There is no need to make it look so boring and slightly stupid, Sammy. You ruined all the drama."

She simply looked back at him with the same cynical, bored expression she always used towards him as a child every time he was being annoying. Mulder felt a brief but hard tug in his heart, of happiness however - he remembered precisely of such occasions and how he had missed their silly bickering.

"What is it, Fox?", she asked, seeing him look at her with a funny face as she picked up some more baked potato with her fork.

"Nothing, Sam.", he said with a cryptic smile and turning to Kevin again. "I thought Langly was supposed to be teaching Muggle Studies?"

"Oh, but he was!"

"Doubting the Muggle credentials, Muldo?", Langly inquired from Kevin's side.

"But of course, I am an M-man, that's what I am supposed to do."

"It's just that Langly was talking about wizards and witches that were known by Muggles, and then he mentioned magic in other cultures.", Sam explained.

"Yes! He told us that Rainbow was a band that was famous on both Muggle and Wizarding world! I had no idea this was a thing.", Kevin completed.

"Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Rick Wakeman, and many others. They often made references from and talked about real events from Wizarding History and culture in their lyrics.", Langly told.

"Many magic musicians do that actually,", Byers added. "it's odd to think that in a Muggle point of view, all these people are just writing about fantasy or making things up."

 _"_ I know, right? I mean, Stargazer is such a _classic_ protest song against Voldemort and his ideals of blood purity back in the 70's. Rainbow's band members were almost killed for that, they had to hide for a while, it was pretty insane.", Langly fully explained, as he always did in every opportunity he had to talk about one of his favorite bands.

"Did you know that, mum?"

"Yeah. I was a little surprised myself when I found that out. I was a teen and heard their music coming from a radio at Mulder's house. I was not the greatest fan though, I was more of a punk-rock child."

Kevin looked at her and tried to imagine his mum, who was always so serious and formal, as a punk kid. He would ask her if she had pictures, because he couldn't imagine that himself.

Langly looked at her, pretending to take the greatest of offences.

"Ma'am, can you please leave this house, immediately? You come into my home, you eat my food and profane the word of Ronnie James Dio, the greatest wizard of all times. Under my roof! Unbelievable."

" _Scully and I_ made the food, moron.", complained Frohike, who was completely ignored.

"Don't worry. She likes it now, Uncle Langly.", the boy also pretended to whisper to the Wanderer sitting by his left side.

Kevin's parents used to listen LP's all the time back when his first mother was still alive and when his father's mental issues weren't as advanced. His mother in particular used to love bands of the genre. When he was adopted, Scully made sure not to take away from him elements that linked him with to his birth family and roots, and the music they used to hear together was one of them. In the end, it just became another way they bonded as mother and son and that made her look at that type of music under a different perspective now.

"That's the way, Kevin-boy, that's the way. Spreading the divine word. This child, Miss Scully, is the future!"

"That's not news to me.", she said, winking playfully at Kevin. He smiled back in return, his nose scrunching up in an adorable way.

"By the way, Langly. I miss our campaign a lot. I hope we will be able to play again soon...", Sam told him, filling in her plate for the fourth time with meat, baked potatoes and steamed veggies.

"Yeah, me too. I can introduce Kevin's character into the adventure with you. If I remember well, Lua could use some of his healing powers from her last encounter with the minotaur.", Langly suggested.

" _Lachlan the Priest_ to the rescue!", the boy said. Feeling less intimidated now after their classes together, he turned to Sam, "I didn't had the chance to play yet, Uncle Langly and I were still building the character months ago."

"Oh no, Langly recruited another one. We're losing them, repeating, we're losing them.", Frohike teased.

"Tsc, come on, Frohike. You should join the party, it would be fun.", offered Langly. "You can be a lot of different characters! You can be a bard, a barbarian, a mage, a monk, a thief... "

"I like to be myself, thank you very much."

Langly looked at him, bored.

"You're such a party pooper."

"I would want to be a bard." Mulder said in his most serious voice and face. "I would play the tambourine. What do you think?"

"That's absolutely ridiculous, Big Mulder, and thus very adequate for you."

"I love you too, Langly. And let me guess your character, Scully: you would be a thief, because you stole my heart."

"Holy Jesus Christ, Mulder.", was the only thing she managed to say, facing such a terrible flirtation.

"No!", Kevin intervened, after swallowing the last bite of his meal. "She would totally be a monk. To kick some asses using martial arts and to heal her party friends with her powers."

Scully made a face as if the suggestion wasn't a bad one.

"That sounds pretty close to me, I guess."

"And knowing Byers the way I do, he would probably be very _oh-so-original_ and choose a human mage character.", Langly said. "Right, Byers?"

"Well, I am a mage already, in a way. And fully human. Seems like a good one to go."

"Told ya.", the Wanderer said, looking to the others and then adding, "Well, brace yourselves then. Lord Manhammer will be going far away to the Singing Mountains in an spiritual retreat to receive his visions about the new prophecies to come."

Everyone - except Sam and Kevin - looked at him as if the Wanderer had finally gone mad.

"He just means he will write down the adventure first", the boy explained, seeing the confused look in everyone's eyes.

"I'm not joining you in this weird game.", Frohike said.

"Hold on, I'm gonna cry for a second.", Langly answered cynically.

"Can you two stop bickering for only a second?", Byers intervened.

"Yeah, I actually have a very important thing to ask.", Sam announced with a serious voice, putting her fork down and leaning closer as if she had to whisper a great secret. Everyone leaned slightly forward with her. "What do we have for dessert, Frohike?"

 _[Between April 9th and April 14th, 1996]_

Scott Ostlehoff was proud to say that he led a very uncommon life, even for a wizard.

Fifty nine years old, no family, a long and successful high-rank career in the Ministry and parallel to this, he worked as the right arm of C.G.B. Spender in what was probably the discovery of the century, even within the Wizarding community of oldest and wisest scholars and professors such as Albus Dumbledore and even Nicholas Flamel.

It was his most most wonderful achievement and his greatest secret, which only a handful of selected men knew of.

The Projects were his life now and the Abductees were the tools to get the answers he and his team needed, he thought, as he monitored the arrival of another group into the Facility on April 11th, shepherded obediently by his Agents to their new rooms, their new homes for a long time. The Arrival Room was actually very modest - of average size and empty, with only a heavily protected circle at the center so the Agents could Apparate out to their missions and back in with their Abductees. They could only step out after the security checked everything was fine and according to the book, which had been the case since pretty much ever.

They only had problems a couple of times in the entire history of the Facility, with Abductees that were naturally resistant to the Imperius, even an Imperius done with tampered wands - solid metal pieces infused with Star Elf veins as their core.

Since the escape of the experiment B034, Ostlehoff was making sure to command everything he could, personally. B034 had ironically been his best result so far since she had been taken by the Purity Control simply as a retaliation against her father and there was no intention or belief that she would become exactly what they were looking for, but she turned out to be the most valuable child in that entire Project so far.

Probably due to her Pure Blood, which was a little counter-intuitive to what they wanted to achieve with their experiments, but it was still a valid result. The loss of that Abductee was already affecting the Project, as they couldn't monitor her developing skills anymore, but the Administrator of the Facility was confident they would be able to repeat the experiment sooner than expected.

There was a test scheduled on April 13th, and he was also there in person to monitor his Agents - a small group of Type Fours had the Oil dropped in their eyes and then they had to dive in tanks of water and stay there until they figured out how to breathe without the use of wands, potions or herbs. This group in particular had some promising Abductees, six men and women of diverse backgrounds who had been showing great power in performance tests and this would be their first time in the underwater test. Ostlehoff's presence there was to ensure the Agents wouldn't mess it up and wouldn't waste any more precious experiments, since killing them wasn't their goal.

However, it was no use - a man and a woman, both Muggle borns, weren't able to perform Bubble Head Charms or grow gills or transfigure themselves into water creatures, and couldn't be saved in time.

He had been there watching the test take place in silence, all the years of working with the Purity Control making his body and mind immune to the cruelty of men being performed right before his eyes, but that didn't prevent the Agents of hearing twenty minutes of angry yelling and lecturing on carelessness and wasting nearly perfect resources.

It would be reasonable to say Ostlehoff was out of his mind, but that was actually a very common behaviour coming from the man and no one there would really disagree for his anger was more than reasonable.

What wasn't that common from him and no one could actually see, was the fact that he never questioned his own morals and humanity, but in that week in particular that subject was more and more frequent in his mind than all the years working for the P.C. altogether. After the fiasco of the underwater test - in which only one of the four survivors was able to perform the required result - the question came back to him, along with the thought of the former Auror still knocked unconscious back in his place.

He shook his head, brushing the thoughts away. His life had nothing of normal in it, and that was his part to play in this greater scheme.

It was on April 14th however, that things shifted from "uncommon" to "upsetting" - even for him. It happened when he was walking down the South Wing, verifying and taking notes of all the Abductees housed in there.

Visions were no stranger to him, as he had been Mediunic as long as he could remember - a trait no one of the Purity Control really knew of, except Spender -, but they were _very rare_ to occur. Even though the Cigarette Smoking Man thought he was an advantage to have by his side due to this ability, Ostlehoff would always say he hadn't seen anything, even when he had; he hated to be controlled and he already had given away his life way too much for not to have his own little secrets to himself. Luckily to him, the rarity of the occurrence of Visions was just the perfect excuse that Spender couldn't argue with, specially with Ostlehoff's Occlumency being nearly impossible to breach.

The Facility's Administrator had been just reading the name of Maximilian Fenig at his cell-room door, when he felt a cold chill and a prickle on the back of his neck as a strange, unintelligible whisper crossed the corridor where he was, now darkened by his Sight with a cold breeze.

Looking around, he saw them - barefoot and wearing a hospital-like cotton gown, there was someone.

The person was looking straight into his eyes and Ostlehoff couldn't take his own eyes away, as if they were locked in some kind of trance. He knew the person was aware of what he was up to. On the other hand, he couldn't see what the person looked like, as if he was in a dream where he could not see anyone's faces but still knew who or what they were only by their presence.

He knew that wasn't a real-time event because he was aware of how Visions felt like - the strange haze, the numbness in his mind were familiar like old friends to him, but something seemed different that time.

Something felt uncomfortable, disturbing, and he couldn't really tell what was it.

The person kept looking at him in an oddly familiar presence for a whole minute. Unable to unlock his stare away, his peripheral vision told him that the corridor behind the person was dark and seemed endless, unlike the real-life corridor that should be large, but very well lit in pristine white walls.

As sudden as it had started, all of it vanished right before his eyes.

He blinked for the first time in that minute frozen in time, feeling his dry eyes watering. He wasn't sure who that person was, if it was a ghost from a past Abductee who sensed his Mediunic nature and was trying to set some kind of communication, or... something even darker than that, something he was not counting on.

Another chill ran down his spine - it couldn't be.

Maybe that was the obvious sign that the Purity Control wasn't fully unveiled to him after all and something that he was not told about due to magic secrecy restrictions was taking its part.

He had no answers, yet. But he would try to find it out at all costs.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 _In the dinner conversation scene (one of my all-time favorites in the entire fanfic, I have to admit!), they actually mention real songs because I am a huge nerd as if this wasn't evident enough, haha. I just love music and it's always fun to imagine how that would roll in the Wizarding World._

 _Christopher Tin's "Temen Oblak" ("Dark Clouds") is a very epic song describing a storm coming to the fields in this village or farm. There is this other book series called "Witches of Eileanan" (which I HIGHLY recommend), in which there is this specific type of witch/magic user - the "Yeddas" - that uses their voice as their casting method, and I always imagined Yeddas would sing this particular song to conjure rain or a storm to defeat an enemy army._

 _Rainbow's "Stargazer" also exists, and totally fits the "protest song against Voldemort" concept - it's basically about a dark wizard enslaving people to build him a tower to reach the stars. Pretty epic to be honest._

 _The other musicians I mentioned also exist - Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks and Rick Wakeman always had the magical/witch/wizard aesthetics somehow going on on them and their songs, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins not only had the aesthetics but also composed the famous "I Put a Spell on You" song! ;)_


	13. Mid-Night Tea

_[present - April 16th, 1996 - the Fifth]_

 _More than before, she was trapped inside that never ending labyrinth of white walls._

 _And just like the beginning of this journey, her heart raced in despair and fear of a lost child in a big crowd. The tolling of the bell-chimes were becoming louder and - she didn't know how she knew that - more urgent._

 _It sounded almost as human as she was._

 _But, was she really human in that maze of deserts and mountains and walls under a white dome? She felt like her humanity was fading along with her sanity and she realized she had no memory of who she was._

 _No name, no family, no home._

 _She knew she had all of those. She knew that._

 _Like in a distant memory of another life, she couldn't see their faces nor remember their names, and that only made her sorrow greater with each and every step._

 _The tears came out for the first time in her dreams, thick and warm and full of silent despair._

 _She feared she would never reach them - the bells and her own life -, even if her feet were tired and bleeding from the march and her skin get wrinkled with centuries chasing the disarmingly beautiful, terrifying sound that reverberated and never seemed to get near._

 _Meanwhile, it was louder._  
 _  
_It was louder.

It was only two days later when he found out that his suspicions were only partially correct.

Very late that night, Ostlehoff was still in his office diving into everything stored in there: opening drawers, cabinets, boxes, not forgetting all of his hidden places reserved for secret documents and other things that shouldn't be placed anywhere else, not even in the Underground Wings, where all the other documents and Star Elf artifacts were safely kept, and pretty much only him and a couple of other men had access to.

 _Revelio_ had become almost like a second nature to him that night.

He took copies of all he was able to get and stored them in a bag that was bigger on the inside, sometimes taking a quick look at its contents. A pale, gaunt-looking man wearing formal attire and disapproving green eyes was looking at her from his painting on a wall on the left - he observed him hiding away the papers for a few minutes and silently vanished behind the frame.

Too focused on his plan, Ostlehoff didn't even notice when the painted man left, but he did notice the steps in the corridor a couple of minutes later.

He stopped for a second or two to confirm what he had just initially heard - it was more than one person, and they were definitely coming to his office's door.

He shoved an entire pile of documents and files inside his bag, shrinked it to the size of a coin and put it in a small pocket inside his boot. By the time the door exploded, he was already holding his wand up and shielding himself from the debris with a Protego.

The Purity Control Security Agents, dressed in their purple-black uniform, came inside the large office, making a barrier between Ostlehoff and the door. Just like all the rest of the building, there were no windows in there where he could escape from.

A man, the red armband marking him as the leader of the Agents, came forward into the room with hard, precise steps and talked to him, as simply and casual as if they were in the middle of a tea party.

" _He_ sends your regards to you. And that you are either a fool or the bravest of the braves by daring to come in here like this.", said Alex Krycek with his usual irritating grim. "For _years_ you used to be his fucking right arm for some reason, but I've never trusted you, Reyes."

In that second where they were suspended in that moment and still wearing Scott Ostlehoff's face, Monica Reyes thought she didn't need a name to come with that "salutation". She also saw with the corner of her eye that the portrait of the pale man came back to its frame, his eyes full of approvement now - she cursed herself.

"Thanks for the tip, grandpa.", Krycek nodded at the portrait, who nodded back at his grandson, the same smile on his painted face.

Monica quickly looked at her possibilities, forgetting how paintings could be so goddamn backstabbers and how that was definitely her greatest mistake - the same kind that Ostlehoff himself had committed months ago, which would be funny if it wouldn't probably cost her life. They were there to take her to Spender in the best case scenario, or simply kill her, but the look in Krycek's face made her sure of which one they would pick.

However, if seven years among devils had taught her something, it was definitely how to kill fast, and oh, she would do it without a hint of hesitation if she had to.

Under that thought, she was the first to raise up her wand.

To the surprise of everyone in that room, she didn't attack - she vanished before their eyes. Similar to places like the Ministry or Hogwarts, it was impossible to Apparate in or out of the Facility, but that's where the breach in that system laid, for it wasn't impossible to Apparate as long as it was somewhere still inside of the building.

She knew that the centre of the building where the entrance to the Facility was located would be swarming with Security Agents even more now that everyone had been alerted of an outsider, so she Apparated to another corridor of the South Wing, near the cell-dormitories.

Her plan was messy, but she knew it would work, for Samantha Mulder had done exactly the same thing, months before - lifting her wand, she mentally apologized to all of the people in that prison of a place that she wouldn't yet be able to take away with her, and to the few that she knew still had an ounce of their own conscience awake and would probably be very startled with the explosion she was about to cause.

But like so many decisions she had taken the past few years, she just swallowed her kindness and did what she had to do.

" _Reducto!_ ", she screamed, drawing a in the air and making the South Wing wall explode in a dark cloud of debris before her. She didn't wait for the dust to lay down, crossing the dense curtain as she covered her eyes from the particles.

As expected, the Agents outside were waiting for her and she fought her way through them, running as fast as a fish can swim and attacking as merciless as a shark defends itself, the Polyjuice Potion already wearing off. The soldiers were able to see as the image of the middle-aged, but still athletic Scott Ostlehoff slowly shifted to the tall and swift frame of Monica Reyes.

They didn't have much time to compute what their eyes were seeing for her wand was soon pointing at them, making them drop right away under a bright light.

Casting Protection spells over herself, she was able to avoid most of the attacks as she crossed the concrete grounds of the outside of the Facility, not as easily now that her clothes and boots were not fit to her size anymore. Reaching the edge, she jumped, landing on the mountain side and running as fast as she could from the Agents still tailing her.

She quickly cast a spell on her boots to make them fit her properly, increasing her speed. She asked the right direction to her wand and was intrigued when she was told she was heading southeast when she should be going straight to the south. She didn't give much time over that and corrected her route, using the gravity on her favor and Apparating away further and further down the mountain to save energy and to avoid breaking her goddamn neck by tripping on some rock.

But the P.C. Agents were fast learners and were soon mimicking her tactic, and she knew there wasn't much time for her. She had to reach the limit of the protection around the Facility, and she had to do it fast. Otherwise, her Portkey would not work.

Using Apparition as a form of protection by showing up meters away in irregular places, Reyes was able to avoid being hit, returning Stunning Spells over her shoulder and sideways, praying to whatever god that was listening it would hit its target.

She asked her wand the location once more - the limit of the protection was around two kilometers down the mountainside and into the trees, which meant she couldn't Apparate there under the risk of stepping right inside some tree trunk or rock.

It was dark, but the Agents were guiding themselves through the sound of her steps against the snow and the occasional light bursting from her wand.

That was when she felt a sting on her lower back, feeling the cold air of the Russian night hurt her even further when the fabric of her cape burnt with her skin. Soon another one hit her - it was clear they didn't want to kill her and that surprised her a little, but that meant she would have to escape or face the consequences with Spender later, and that was not an option - she would rather die, to be quite honest to herself.

She smelled burnt flesh and fabric and her running faltered for the first time. She was close to the limit, and close to her way out, her wand had told her. She Apparated a chunk of the way for the last time, reaching her inner breast pocket for a galeon, quickly Transfiguring it into a Portkey that would activate in one minute - the time it would take for her to cross the protection frontiers.

But that's when the couple of pursuers still behind had decided it was enough and she would be better dead than free.

Reyes was about to cross the line when the Curse knocked the air out from her lungs and the blood from under her skin - the deep slashes hit her back the most, but they somehow crossed her chest and right arm. The pain was probably pushing her towards insanity, but she refused to pass out, she couldn't, not now. She dragged herself, leaving a trail of red against the white, taking advantage of the darkness and that they couldn't hear her breaking the snow with her running steps anymore.

She just needed one more step.

She held her wand with weak fingers in her right hand and held tightly the galeon in her left one, waiting.

She was already hearing their voices celebrating the capture when the timer of the Portkey went zero and her dark silhouette vanished, leaving behind a puddle of her blood on the snow, fifteen Security Agents and Alex Krycek screaming in sheer rage to the cold night air.

Sam served herself with the fourth piece of apple pie, not even looking at it as the slice floated on its own to her plate right next to her hand. She only looked at it briefly when she picked up her fork again to have a bite.

The golden clock above her ticked 4:17 AM, but she was more awake than ever and she knew all the sugar she was devouring wasn't the reason for her restlessness. She looked down, studying the Maps of Krasnoyarsk Krai - their plan was still very uncertain about most of it, which meant there wasn't much she could do at that moment.

But she simply couldn't help herself.

That dark place seemed to be calling her, in a weird way. She _had_ to go there once more. She felt it in her very core, through her modified, abnormally green blood - she wouldn't rest until that hell was down, forever.

Her eyes ran through the lines of the Map, looking at the concentration of red ink dots that marked the facility's location - Langly was able to reveal them by using a sample of Sam's powers so the Map would recognize the pattern of the foreign magic used in that place. It had worked perfectly. The agglomeration of magic was set in the very mountains near Tunguska, the Parabola Rock where she was last seen by the Purity Control nearby.

She then sat down, thinking.

What would they do? Would they be able to shut the facility down? Would they be able to stop not only the people in the facility, but all the hidden, powerful figures behind it? Would they even _survive_ all of this?

The questions remained unanswered as they always did during the last nights spent looking at those Maps, but they wouldn't go away either. She was torn between her own primal instinct of going there to end that place and the ultimate fear of losing more than she would gain. It wasn't the first time she thought of that through that angle, and so far she was able to more or less successfully keep her anxieties down.

Not this time.

She felt it start to take shape in her chest, her left leg started to shake up and down and her hands started to break a cold sweat. However, she was pulled away from her own spiral of thoughts when she heard someone stepping down the stairs.

When she turned her head, she saw Scully showing up in black, silk pajamas and barefoot just like she was. The Healer looked at her, her expression intrigued by Sam's presence in the main room so late at night.

"Can't sleep, Miss Scully?"

"You could say that, yes.", the Healer answered with a tired voice. She had been tossing and turning in her bed for over an hour because of her latest and new nightmare.

She thought those dreams were going away, but the progression of their own surreal story was actually getting worse. Not wanting to wake Mulder up with her restlessness, she decided to leave her bed for a while and go downstairs to cool down, maybe have a snack.

She came closer to the younger witch, looking down at the table's surface at what Sam was doing.

"I can see why you can't sleep either. Can I sit with you?"

"Of course. I will even let you have a slice.", Sam answered, pulling the half-eaten pie towards the Healer, her lips curving up in a smile that tried to seem playful under her anxiety.

"I think I will accept, yes.", Scully said, waving her hand in a casual manner. The non-verbal, wandless magic served her a piece and made two cups of steaming hot tea show in front of them - vanilla for herself and apple for Sam, as she knew the youngest Mulder's preference-bordering-the-obsession to the fruit since she started to carry them around as a snack.

"Thanks.", Sam said, picking up her cup with her half-gloved hands and having a sip. The warm feeling of the tea and Scully's quiet, but kind presence made her feel a bit better. However, she was frequently awake during the quietest hours of the night and she had never once seen Scully also out of bed at that time since she had moved in.

The Healer's overall behaviour also told her something was not quite right.

"What is the problem, Miss Scully…? Are you okay?"

Scully seemed to think as she chewed as small bite of pie and rested the small fork on the plate.

"I've been… having some weird dreams.", she told. "I have some experience with stress dreams, but these have something odd to them."

"What kind of dreams?", Sam inquired, her own share of terrifying nightmares enough to make her know exactly how the Healer-Auror felt about it.

"To be quite honest, I really don't know. I don't know what is causing them, I don't know what do they mean… I don't know if they even have a _meaning at all_. They are surreal and strange in an abstract manner and they don't seem connected to me. But they… distress me a lot, nonetheless. They started a little after your arrival."

Sam brought her hand to her chin, thoughtful - an expression so familiar to Scully.

"Do you think they are connected to it…? To my… my arrival, I mean."

"Well… it could be. Not because of you, of course.", Scully added, quickly. "But because of my own experience as an Abductee. Still, it doesn't really make sense..."

"Why not?"

"Because dreams about my about my abduction are very clear about it."

The youngest Mulder sibling looked at her, waiting for the Auror to continue. Scully had been avoiding the subject so far, but knowing she owed Sam the promised conversation about her own abduction, that moment seemed to be a very good time as any to talk, she thought to herself.

And only by the focused expression on Sam's face as she looked at her, the Healer knew she wanted to know.

"You see...my abduction dreams consist in a revival of few actual memories I have of it." she explained, leaning back on her chair, the cup between her cold hands resting on her lap. "I was taken by this man, a former Auror who had serious psychological conditions. We all thought it was because of an incident he had while still in duty. He claimed to be an Abductee, that Star Elves took him several times throughout the years, but because of his condition no one really believed him - only Mulder did. Now, after what happened next and after reading all those awful reports, it's more than obvious he was telling the truth, but we had no way of knowing that back then. This man… his name was Duane Barry, he was extremely unstable. He ran away from St. Mungus and took people hostage in a building, saying he wanted someone to take along with him so ' _Star Elves wouldn't take him again_ '. He hurt one of the hostages. They were all Muggles, it was a hot mess to Obliviate and change everyone's memories later. Anyway... Mulder and I worked in this operation to stop him and retrieve the hostages."

She made a short pause to have a sip of tea. Sam would barely blink, her attention all turned to Scully and her story.

"Pretending to be Muggle police as we usually do in cases like that to avoid more commotion around the magic side, we infiltrated the operation. Mulder and I disguised ourselves as Muggle healers under the police's orders, so we could get close to Duane Barry and to help the victim that had been hurt. It worked at first, but things went out of control when he realized we were wizards too and what we were doing there. He threw an angry fit and Apparated away... But before he did that, he held my arm and took me with him, taking my wand away and knocking me unconscious with a spell when we had barely landed. No one knew where Duane Barry had taken me to, your brother was desperate to find me. Mulder was only able to figure out where he had taken me to because, before he realized who we were, Barry was mumbling to himself and mentioned these… names randomly, as if he was delirious. Mulder soon picked up they were the names of mountains in North Ireland and with the help of other Aurors to cover more places faster, they searched every single one of the mountains he had mentioned. Mulder decided to go to the one Duane repeated the name the most, Slieve Bearnagh. Your brother only had time to hear me scream for his help once, before a bright light came in from the skies and when Mulder was finally able to find Barry, I was nowhere to be found. This last part is the moment I always dream of: knowing he was close enough to hear me feels even worse when I revive it in a weird, distorted slow motion way in my nightmares. These recent dreams I've been having, they are nothing like that. They place me in a desert, a maze, climbing up a mountain. It is more about the thoughts and feelings I have that terrifies me the most, not what happens in them."

Scully paused again, taking the time to finish her slice of pie and her tea, before it got cold.

Meanwhile, Sam processed what the Healer had told her.

She thought that her own abduction had been really bad, not being able to move at all while the light carried her away. But Scully's perspective sounded even worse because, unlike herself, the chance Scully had to be saved was missed only by seconds. Sam never had any chance of being saved - she was only a child and Mulder was only a terrified, Paralyzed twelve year-old back then.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Scully…", was all she managed to say, the Healer seeing the full understanding in Sam's eyes and feeling it giving her simple words a lot more meaning. "How were you able to come back...?"

"Everyone thought I was gone for good. My mother had lost her all hopes of finding me alive and even bought my tombstone…", Scully said, melancholic. "Around four weeks after my abduction, I was suddenly returned, nearly dead. My mother told me that Mulder had to be contained when he got to the hospital and saw me... he was so desperate about my condition he started to scream at the Healers, demanding answers about me, how I was and how I got there - no one was able to answer most of his questions, which angered him even more. I was in a comatose state, pale like a ghost and merely bones and skin. I also had marks like yours mostly on my arms, but they had this weird, dark greenish tint to them. It was a miracle I survived at all."

It was the hardest thing for Sam to imagine the Healer-Auror Dana Scully, so competent, powerful and full of life as a mere shadow of herself the way she had just described. It made her think of what they had possibly have done to Scully, the same things she remembered being submitted to - she closed her hands in fists at the same time a cold shiver ran down her body.

"I don't remember anything from my experiments. Nothing at all.", Scully said. "I am still not sure if that is a good or a bad thing."

Sam couldn't know the answer for that, either - knowing what happened to you was bad, but not knowing what other people had done to you could spare you from more nightmares. However, it really gave food for thought to fill in the gaps.

"What Abductee abilities do you have, Miss Scully? And, hm... what were the consequences?"

"I was branded as a Type 4. I have a great range and power with non-verbal spells, I can perform a lot of magic without my wand and I received an Animagus form, a golden eagle. My Patronus, which had the shape of a pet dog I once had as a child, also changed itself to the form of an eagle. We are still unsure why it changed, but our guess is that it was probably due to the trauma itself, it is not uncommon for Patronuses to change their shape for such reasons."

Scully held her empty cup, her hands still cold. She had a strange look in her face Sam wasn't able to unveil.

"The experiments made me sterile. I will never be able to have children myself."

It took a second for Sam to process what Scully had just said, and with a mental snap she finally realized.

"Wait. You mean… Kevin isn't your son, then?"

If it was any other person asking that bluntly about Kevin's adoption, Scully would be as defensive as a lioness in a matter of seconds. But Sam was different - not only because the Healer was very fond of her, but she was also fully aware Sam wasn't really good in social situations, for obvious reasons.

It was also clear that Sam had asked that mostly because she hadn't realized up to that moment that Kevin _wasn't_ her biological son, which made Scully smile a little.

The Auror placed her cup on the table before her and mindlessly pulled her golden chain from under her pajamas' shirt, fidgeting with the little golden cross and medal attached to it as she answered the question.

"Yes. We were called in for this case last year, and Kevin was involved. By the end of it, I saved him from being killed. He no longer had a mother because of the man who tried to kill him, and he had no one else in the world. Mulder and I had just left his town when I realized I couldn't leave him behind. I just... _couldn't_."

Scully had told Sam about one of the greatest traumas of her life without hesitation - but talking about her son made her voice quiver, and not really knowing what to say or if that would be okay, Sam reached for Scully's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, like she had done when her brother was upset and vice-versa.

The Healer looked at her partner's little sister and returned the gesture, placing her free hand over Sam's, a soft smile on her lips.

"I'm okay, Sam, don't worry. I know Kevin is happy with me, and that's all that matters."

"I don't know him very much… but I can see he is.", Sam replied, leaning back to her chair. She couldn't read people's minds anymore, as she had promised not to, but she was still very sensitive to their emotions nonetheless and Kevin did seem to be happy. And then, remembering what she had said to Kevin when they had first met, she flushed with retroactive embarrassment.

"I told Kevin he looked a lot like you, _in appearence_. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings…?"

"Oh, it is okay, don't worry.", Scully reassured. "People often remember him a lot that he _'isn't my real son_ ', having someone tell him the opposite for a change means a lot to him. And to me."

Sam let out a small sigh of relief. She then grinned a little in a mischievous way, and having years of experience with another Mulder, Scully knew she would have to brace herself for whatever that would be coming.

"You know… at first, when you brought him over and I saw him asleep on Fox's back... I was sure Kevin was his son, too. But I soon knew a smart boy like him couldn't share the same DNA as the buttmunch of my brother."

Scully's brain wasn't sure if she should go as red as the crest of Gryffindor himself over the implication, or just laugh hard at it and agree with Sam's comment.

It ended up doing both.

"Can't really disagree with you, about Mulder. And about Kevin being our child... I can't really blame you for thinking that, it's not an absurd assumption to make. Your brother and I are very close."

And the assumption Kevin is also Mulder's son wasn't very far from the truth either, she thought, a warm feeling spreading in her chest..

The Auror then yawned and, looking at the clock, she saw it was already 5:33 AM.

"I think I will try to go to bed now.", she said, standing up and, with another movement of her hand, making their empty cups and her own plate disappear. She then looked at Sam, "thank you a lot for listening. And for the pie."

"Frohike made the pie.", Sam answered, a warm smile on her face.

She watched as Scully turned with a "Good night, Sam" and walked to the staircase.

"Hum… Miss Scully?"

"Yes?", she turned her head to look, her right foot already on the first step.

"Thank you for telling me. I know how hard it is to just… say these things out loud."

"That's why I told you, Sam. More than anyone here, _you know_ how it is like." She then went upstairs, leaving Sam by herself in the main room, the Healer's words ringing in her head.

Unlike the bells in Scully's dreams, their same experience resonated in recognition in a strange, but comforting feeling to Sam.

Upstairs, Scully was about to open her room's door when it opened so fast she stepped back, startled and her hand up, ready to protect herself. Her defensiveness was soon replaced by a worried expression when she saw it was her partner, wide awake and seeming very alarmed.

"What is it Mulder?", she asked looking at him, her Healer side instinctively searching for physical signs that might explain his odd behaviour.

"Skinner had just messaged, he needs our help. _Now_.", he told her.

"I will get my wand", she replied, understanding the urgency right away.

 _[minutes earlier - April 16th, 1996]_

The Assistant Director of the Department of Mysteries was startled by a loud thud downstairs and the sound of something breaking.

He immediately left his bed, getting his wand from under his pillow and stepped carefully and silently downstairs, alert to any movements or traps someone might have been setting for him.

He cast a Recognition Spell, the light coming away from his wand like a big wave just as he left the stairs and walked towards the portal to the living room. The light came back to him and painted in the air the number of people in that house, including himself: "2". It then made the shape of an arrow to the direction the other person in the house was standing - the living room right next to him.

With a deep breath, Skinner turned to the portal and stepped into the room. The light coming from the streetlamp in front of his house was enough only to make him see the dark lump of someone fallen over his now broken coffee table.

Whoever they were, they weren't moving.

Entirely convinced by now that if someone wanted to kill or attack him they would've done it long ago, he turned the lights on with a flick of his wand.

The first thing he saw was the dangerous glistening of blood - lots of it, all over the carpet and the silhouette of the person he had finally recognized as his former student, current Special Auror and, at that point of his life, the one who was the closest to a daughter he never had.

"Oh my God! Monica!", he called as he kneeled by her side and carefully turned her over, now taking a full view of the damage done on her and not getting any response from her either. Her clothes had burnt patches in many places, revealing the also burnt skin underneath, showing where offensive spells had caught her when her defense was low.

But those weren't the worst wounds she carried on her - she was in fact deeply cut all over her back, over her limbs and torso, the fresh blood still pumping out of them.

Skinner let escape an angry sound, recognizing the Curse.

Hs few years as a teacher at Hogwarts had introduced him to it, and he thanked to himself that he was there in that cold December afternoon in 1976, when two students had used that very spell-curse against a younger Muggle-born called Mary Macdonald: Ramsay Mulciber and Severus Snape, back then still two sixteen year olds way too full of pointless rage for their own good, were forced to tell Skinner how to reverse that terrible spell Severus claimed he read somewhere and had no idea what it did. He never quite believed that, but Skinner had no evidences of the contrary to prove it. And only because of that that they weren't expelled right away. The attack against Mary Macdonald got both sixth years a letter summoning their parents, a heavy detention until the end of the term and an absolute hate towards Walter Skinner since then - not that the Assistant Director sympathized with any of them anyway, even more now that they were adults with many more questionable decisions and acts on them.

He wondered for a brief second how in the hell the Purity Control was using that spell now, but he shook the thought away as he quickly positioned himself better by Monica Reyes' bleeding body and extended his wand towards her, remembering the words.

" _Vulnera Sanentur._ ", he said, almost in a chant. Her blood stopped flowing out.

" _Vulnera Sanentur... Vulnera Sanentur..._ ", He kept chanting as her blood made its way back, receding from the stains on her clothes and from his cream-colored carpet, re-entering her wounds back into her veins. Soon, the wounds were shut close and Monica's uneven, shallow breathing slowly returned back to normal.

But that wasn't enough and she probably was not safe where they were, even though his place was protected. He Summoned from upstairs the notebook Mulder had given him months earlier and tapped him an urgent call for help.

Mulder answered less than a minute after that.

 _"We are coming, get ready."_

Skinner changed his sleeping clothes into full robes and cloak with a wave of his wand and put the notebook inside his inner breast pocket.

Waiting for Mulder and Scully to come over, he stood up and Levitated unconscious Monica Reyes from the broken debris of his coffee table she had probably landed on and placed her carefully on his sofa. He touched her forehead, concern like a shadow on his face - she was burning with fever.

He remembered very well the aftermaths of the spell used against young Mary in 1976 and he knew Reyes would need a lot more than just the counterspell - she would need full treatment with healing potions and lots of dittany ointment.

However, the Assistant Director was more than glad she had made it alive, even if barely.

He was expecting that her mission would be a suicidal one and that he would never see her again, not even her dead body. He hoped that she was at least able to get what she was after in this hunt and that the physical damage done to her wasn't for nothing.

But he would only find it out after she was treated and well once again.

"You were very competent _and_ _very lucky_ once more, Auror Reyes.", he said to her, a minute before his other Special Aurors Apparated in his living room, ready to take them away.

Everyone was wide awake in the house now, except for Kevin - Mulder made sure to cast a Silent Spell around his room right after their arrival, so the boy's sleep wouldn't be disturbed by all the sudden action at six in the morning. They wouldn't want him to see Monica arriving in the conditions she was, either - badly burnt and with thick, fresh scars running over her skin, where the P.C. Agents had concentrated the Curses.

"What in the hell happened to her, sir?", Mulder asked, as Scully was with Monica in Sam's practice room, examining her wounds in privacy. The Auror had been laid in a conjured hospital-like bed, still unconscious.

Everyone was gathered in the Wanderers' main room, listening. Sam was the first to see them arrive, but the other men were already up since they needed permission to get inside the house.

"I don't know all of it yet, Mulder.", he answered. "But almost two weeks ago, right after our meeting, she set herself in a mission to try to put the Purity Control down, or at least gather enough information for that. She asked me to find the director of the facility in Russia, Scott Ostlehoff."

"Ostlehoff? The man who Floo-called the Smokin' Dude the night we went to Mrs Mulder's?", Langly asked.

"Yes." Skinner answered. "That's how she found out about his identity and his importance in the great scheme of the Purity Control."

"Why did she want you to find him for her?", Sam inquired, her shyness around strangers instantly away under the light of new events and new information about the P.C.. Skinner looked at her and fully realized for a second that that was Samantha Mulder and how surreal it was to be there, talking to her twenty years after her abduction.

"She wanted to take him and assume his identity, so she would be able to infiltrate into the facility and learn more about them, and, if possible, try to find a way to bring them down from inside out."

"By the Cursed Vaults, are you serious? That's fucking suicide!", Frohike said.

"That's what I thought, too." continued the Assistant Director. "I tried to talk her out of it, but no use. She was decided to do it. She contacted me briefly for two or three times, telling me she was finding out more evidences and documents and learning about how the abductions take place, but I don't know much else she had discovered. She was expecting to meet me soon, as she told me she felt time was running out against her disguise."

"So, she _was_ able to disguise as Ostlehoff and infiltrate.", Byers, commented, extremely impressed.

"Yes, she was. But it seems her disguise didn't last much longer. And that means Ostlehoff is still under control in Monica's hideout and that's where I come into the scene."

"What do you mean, sir?", Mulder inquired, a little uneasy.

"Calm down, Mulder. I will simply hold him in custody for now, until we gather enough evidences to actually charge him and everyone else involved. Miss Reyes is safe and under care here with you, so I will leave right now to take care of Ostlehoff" And after a small pause, he looked at Mulder and added. "Please... keep me updated on her condition."

The Assistant Director of the Department of Mysteries then briefly nodded farewell to the group and Apparated away to Monica Reyes' hideout. They sat there for another half hour, waiting for Scully to come out from the practice room that would now serve as an infirmary for Monica's healing. When she did, her sleeves rolled up and protection cotton gloves on, Mulder was the first to stand up.

"How is she?"

The Healer let out a worried sigh before answering.

"Not very well. She is still unconscious and she is not dead only because Skinner acted quickly. I administered intravenous Blood Replenishing and Anti-Dehydration potions, and applied the dittany ointment on her wounds as Skinner told me to do. I have to say, I've never seen wounds like that."

"What do you mean?", Sam asked.

"They were inflicted with a spell I've never seen before. The cuts are deep and some would still bleed if I touched them, even with Skinner's counterspell. It is clearly some illegal Curse, which is not very surprising, coming from that people. I will be watching her to make sure she will be alright. The next hours will be crucial."

"We can watch her in shifts, so you can have some rest." Mulder offered, knowing his partner hadn't slept at all that night.

"I will be fine, for now. But I will definitely need it later.", she answered with a tired voice, watching the clock ticking 7: 10 AM. "Thank you."


	14. Reyes' Mission

_[present - April 20th, 1996 - the Sixth]_

 _It was louder._

 _Louder._

 _It was unbearable, and she wanted to cover her ears with her hands to make the sound stop, to make it go away._

 _But it was louder._

 _It was louder…..._

Monica's entire body felt like it had been ran over by a thousand Erumpents as she regained conscience.

The previous occasion her body tried to wake up - and gods only knows when that had happened, she thought, -, her right arm, chest and back seemed like they were raw on fire. She was so weak and the pain was so scorching it knocked her out again after only a few seconds.

But this time, her arm felt good and there was no chest or back pain. She was even able to move her fingers of her right hand, something that would definitely be impossible before.

When her hazel eyes opened, she saw a very high white ceiling above her, and stone walls.

 _Seems I'm not dead after all_ , she thought. _But that was close._

She was able to Portkey away and Apparate at Skinner's house, and he probably had taken her somewhere else to be treated, she quickly processed, looking down at her right arm tightly wrapped in a splint.

That's when she realized she wasn't alone in that room.

Reyes turned her head sideways and saw a child by her bed. It wasn't a Vision, but there was something odd in the air nonetheless, not bad or menacing, just… strange.

Warm and dream-like, as if she was not fully awaken yet. She shrugged it off - it was probably just her mind the one thing behaving strange. She was unconscious for the longest time, and her body was still healing. Behind the boy, she saw Dana Scully sitting on a comfortable-looking armchair, her eyes closed, looking like she was dozing off.

"Are you feeling well, miss?", the boy asked her. He then explained. "My mum fell asleep, so I thought I should keep an eye on you for her."

That was one polite child, she thought. Then Reyes realized how much she had missed in the life of her old friend and former school sweetheart since they all went separate ways - and after she had assumed her place as a double agent. It seemed like it had been in another life when Scully, Mulder and herself wandered through school walls playing pranks on each other and having no greater worries other than delivering their homework in time.

"Hm… I'm good, I think.", she finally answered.

The boy smiled at her and went to Scully, kneeling by her side and patting her arm gently to wake her up.

"Mum, mum… the lady is up."

She opened her eyes, looking a little surprised she had fallen asleep like that. She also quickly looked at Monica's direction, as if expecting something had happened to her.

"Oh.. Alright. Thanks, Kevin…", she said, still looking a little sleepy and slightly relieved. She then looked at him, as if noticing what was really happening for the first time. "You aren't supposed to be in here, young man. You know that."

The boy shrugged, not really knowing what to say, but not seeming apologetic either.

"Go outside with the others. We will talk later.", the Healer said calmly, standing up.

The boy looked at Monica with a big mischievous grin as if he knew something she didn't and ran out, closing the door behind him. The former double-agent smiled a little, amused - the first real smile in the longest time. She looked at Scully when the Healer talked to her, coming closer.

"I'm glad to see you back, Monica.", she paused for a moment, as if she was going to say something but changed her mind in the end. "How are you feeling now?"

"I'm... very good, actually. No pains. Only the feeling I was dragged around and chewed by a dragon, but other than that I am okay." she said, her young girl-like voice a little hoarse.

Scully examined Reyes' eyes under the light of her wand and then looked at her wounds - or where they should have been, for there was nothing more than some very faint lines on her skin; the burnt marks from other offensive spells were the first to disappear, a day before.

The Healer's expression was odd, one Reyes couldn't precise for certain.

"Is anything wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, no. Everything is fine… very fine, actually... Hm. Your wounds healed very quickly, your reflexes are good.", she added, her voice coming out as if she was thinking about the things she listed as she spoke. "You are feeling so tired because you were laid down for a long time. But take it easy for now, let's stay on the safe side."

"Good." Monica said, sitting up immediately, but slowly, as her body seemed unaccustomed to movements. Seeing she showed a little hesitation when moving her right arm, Scully conjured her a sling that held her arm close to her body, just in case.

"How long have I been out?"

"Four days."

The Auror let out a worried sigh, feeling the weight of the precious time running away between her fingers.

"Dana, I need to tell you all about the facility, as soon as possible. I have some disturbing news about that place."

The Healer heard the urgency in Reyes' words. That was bad, very bad - as if things weren't already bad enough.

"I will gather the others. Wait here, I don't think you should walk around yet."

With Scully, the Mulder siblings and the Lone Wanderers surrounding her bed, Reyes started to tell them her mission from the very beginning.

"After I left our meeting that night, I knew I should take advantage of my desertion and disappearance for something and I knew what I could do about it. Mr Skinner and I went to the hideout place we set for me seven years ago before I had even entered the Purity Control, and I told him what I wanted to do. The plan was very clear in my head: with Spender's Floo Call on the night Samantha here showed up in their radars for the first time in months, I knew Ostlehoff was someone important in the inner circles of the Purity Control, I just had to find out what exactly was his role in it. That's why I asked Mr Skinner to find him for me - I would do that myself, but I was already compromised. I would take this huge mistake Spender committed to another level. Skinner found him, and I immediately went after Ostlehoff in his home."

She spoke as if she was merely talking about the weather, as if taking people hostage was just another day in her life - which possibly had actually been up to that moment, the others had thought. But no one said anything and just let Reyes tell her story.

"I made him speak up with Veritaserum." and then, as if guessing everyone's thoughts a moment before, she added. "I still have some ounce of decency in me, I wouldn't _Cruciatus_ the man for that, even if he actually deserves it. Not that time, not anyone, ever again."

Reyes paused for a second, a second where Sam looked at the woman with mixed feelings.

People who tortured and made other people do things against their will would always have a special place in her mind to be hated with all the force of her being. But the youngest Mulder could see and feel Reyes clearly had no pride at all of any of that. Sam decided she would just watch and wait to see what her own conclusions about the former double-agent would be in the end.

"I made him talk: about his role in the Purity Control, about his work, about himself, his own life and ways. I had to learn how to _be him_ the best I could and I had so little time on me, so I did my best to listen. I asked him about the facility's exact location, how to get there, and I asked more and where he kept his secrets every night I returned to the hideout. After a couple of days of questioning, I thought it would be enough to set my plan in motion, also because Ostlehoff couldn't just stay out of the perimeters any longer, it would be highly suspicious and I wanted everything but attract attention to him. I took Polyjuice Potion with strands of his hair, taking some of it with me. Then, I Apparated to the facility."

"Wait, wait. Did you just said you _Apparated_ to the facility?", Frohike asked.

"You have to Apparate inside a specific location, on the _exact_ coordinates. If you show up an inch away, you will just end up in some random mountain in Russia."

"... _That's it_?" Mulder inquired, shocked.

"It is uncannily simple, yes, but very effective because of the place the labs are located. That wouldn't work in the middle of a city or somewhere else with a lot of people passing by all and every day, there would always be someone stepping in by accident. Not to mention, the entrance is very well-guarded. If someone that shouldn't be there Apparates in, they are killed on the spot."

The group just looked at her, trying to process the information that they literally just had to know where to Apparate and how to neutralize the P.C. Agents and all of this would be finished. Sam felt an adrenaline rush under such thought.

"But how was Ostlehoff able to even tell you that?", Langly asked, coming a step closer to Monica, gesturing in an inquisitive manner. "I am sure the facility is also protected by magic secrecy restrictions, he wouldn't be able to even _mention_ it to anyone else, even under torture or Veritaserum. The Fidelius or whatever is being used to hide the place wouldn't let him tell you how to get there."

Monica smirked a little before answering.

"Because _he had told me_ about it before, remember? Through the Floo Call. It wasn't his intention, of course, but he did it nonetheless, and he did it on his own free will. I was sure the Veritaserum would be enough, because of that."

"And how did you escape?", Sam inquired.

The Auror looked at Sam for a moment and just like Skinner, realized that in front of her was Samantha Mulder, the girl who everyone thought was dead for over two decades. She was glad Sam looked so alert and so much healthier than her pictures in her Abductee files.

"I actually did the same thing _you_ did when you escaped, Samantha.", she started, taking Sam aback with what she said. Reyes then told all the details about her flight, from the facility to the base of the mountain. "I just made sure to learn that place by heart. Apparating though the building and down the mountain gave me some advantage, but not much. They hit me with the Sectusempra a moment before the Portkey took me to Skinner's house."

"Sectusempra?", Scully asked, leaning forward. "Is that the weird Curse that hit you?"

"Yes. It came from Death Eater circles." Monica paused for a minute, the group holding grim expressions on their faces. She continued her story. "I was able to wear Ostlehoff's face for a week, but it was enough for me to discover… even more disturbing things about that place - like, how they capture people. I finally had access to that information, both in documentation and seeing it right in front of me. They use Star Elf magic to perform all the illusion of white light, the star-vessels and star-beings to their victims. It is all a big staging to diverge the attention towards the wrong places and to hide the captors - the Abduction Agents, as they are called in there. Their faces are hidden under Illusions so that's the last thing an Abductee see before losing their conscience. Most victims forget it altogether, but some might be able to remember some flashes from before and during the abduction and that's what is all for, a way of the P.C. to protect their people and the real nature of these experiments."

"Well, that's the confirmation and an explanation of something we were already sure of - that this is some sick experience made by men from the very start.", Byers added, placing his hand over the bed frame near Monica's feet.

"Exactly.", Monica confirmed. "The original Tunguska ship really is stored in there since its fall, that's how they keep gathering Alien magic even after all these years, the Star Elf resources are unlimited with that ship, artifacts and many other smaller ships that were captured throughout the years and brought over with the financial help of rich Blood-Purist families, such as the Malfoys, the Blacks and specially, the Kryceks."

"Of course that sewer rat have something to do with it, right", Mulder said.

Monica looked at him with a strange face Sam couldn't really read, but that made her brother's face darken with some kind of realization.

"Wait, you are saying there are _civilians_ involved in this project?", Frohike asked in disbelief, almost as if he was guessing Mulder's thoughts.

"Sort of. For example, Walburga Black would more than gladly give generous donations to Spender so he could go on with his… _research_. Everyone knows how fond of the Dark Arts and how a Blood Purist she used to be, and she left a lot of money for the P.C. after her death to continue to fund their experiments. Evidently, Walburga Black and other patrons aren't given details of what is being done in the labs of Tunguska, they only knew that 'experiments were being done to improve Muggles' conditions'. Not that these funders would care anyway about all those Muggle children and innocent people being used as testing animals."

"May she be resting in hell.", Scully said, somber. The Healer never used her beliefs to condemn people, but that was an exception no one in that room would ever judge her for.

"However, the Krycek family, they are a different matter.", Monica continued. "They aren't _just_ _civilians_ , they are involved with the Purity Control since the very start of it. It was Alyosha Krycek, Alex's grandfather, who retrieved the vessel back in 1947 and made some kind of partnership with Spender to study it. Alyosha had the money and Spender had the power and the contacts to make it happen. And… that's pretty much how the Purity Control itself was born. Hell, it was the fucking portrait of Alyosha that snitched me. That's why Alex is involved, why he is a high rank in the P.C., and just one of many reasons why I wish I could kill him with my bare hands."

"You will have to get in the line.", Scully added, bitter.

"Anyway. I diverge." Monica said. "Speaking of horrible things, I was also present during the... _tests_ they performed. It was worse than anything I've ever witnessed and I've seen _really bad things._ But there was something else that disturbed me even more, if that's even possible."

The entire group leaned forward a little, not wanting to miss any of her words.

"As Dana and Fox here know it already, I sometimes have Visions."

"Visions…?", Sam asked, not really sure of what that meant. She didn't remember reading or hearing about it anywhere.

"It is a much more complicated thing,", Monica explained, forgetting Sam probably didn't know a lot of things yet. "but it is basically the ability of seeing things other people can't. Messages from spirits, glimpses of the past, the future, or the present in other locations than the one we have access to. Sometimes, I just have _feelings_ about something in particular, and rarely, I have full Visions about something, and that's what happened to me while I was there in the facility, two days before my escape."

"What was it, Reyes?", Mulder asked her.

"A strange person... it was a child. I couldn't tell their gender. I just know it was a someone looking up straight at me, who knew I wasn't who I seemed to be, and that was trying to warn me of something going on in that place. You see, Visions aren't clear most of the time, it is up to the seer to interpret them. But there is no way I cannot think that maybe…"

"That they are taking children in again.", Scully completed her sentence, her expression dark with the possibility.

"Yes. That was probably the soul of a child, already dead or almost, that was trying to warn me of it. But that's when it gets even stranger: Scott Westlehoff was the administrator of the Purity Control Facility, which means he knows everything that goes on in that place. _Everything_. I've never seen a child Abductee in there, and I made sure to watch all the tests, to see all the Abductees coming in, to look through the names and basic informations of all the people being held in there at this moment - the youngest one was around twenty two years old. And that's not all, Ostlehoff was under Veritaserum, he couldn't simply _forget_ about telling me that. Unless…"

"Unless he _couldn't_ tell you about it.", Mulder said, looking at her with bright eyes as his mind worked at full steam. He paced a little through the room, thinking of what Langly had asked her earlier. "Whatever is happening in there that might involve children is being protected by some kind of Secrecy Spell, _separately_."

"Exactly.", Reyes confirmed her own line of thought. "My Vision featured a child Abductee in a long, dark corridor that seemed to have no end, almost like a tunnel. And it is not all. There was another odd thing, when I was on the run - I was supposed to blow up the South Wing wall and run straight down. But when I asked my location, my wand told me I was going southeast."

"Maybe you just ran to the wrong direction for a couple of steps.", suggested Byers, trying to look at the more obvious, simple explanation.

"No…. No, I don't think so.", Monica answered. "I think what I broke was actually the southeast wall of the Facility."

Sam looked at her, confused.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that the Facility has some sort of secret wing that messed up all the directions, a hidden section probably next to what I know as "South Wing" that cannot be seen or accessed by those who are not involved in the Secrecy Spell. The dark corridor behind the child I saw could be telling me precisely that. It all fits perfectly. Visions are a little vague as I said, but they are never lies. The child's presence was strong and full of sorrow - like dreams, the feelings we experience in a Vision are usually the key to its correct interpretation."

Scully shifted her weight from one foot to another after hearing that last sentence, feeling restless about her own dreams she couldn't interpret for the life of her. Maybe Monica would be able to help her on that later, she thought.

"But they had already got to the conclusion that testing on children is not working.", Langly said.

Frohike made a sound of disbelief.

"As if they care about kil… Abducting kids.", he added, correcting his sentence mid-way with a glance at Sam. "They only care about reaching their goal."

"I am afraid he is correct.", Monica said. "Based on what I've seen there, on what Ostlehoff told me, based on everything… My theory is that they are gathering children again, but doing something else to them. Another project, maybe, different from the called Ganymede Project, or the 'Abductees project'."

"What they could possibly be doing in there now…?", Scully asked, alarmed.

"I have no idea. We will only discover when we actually get there, I think, now that we know what to look for.", Reyes answered her.

"But this… new experiment is still hidden.", Mulder said, worried. "We will never find it, even if we vaguely know where to look for it. We aren't part of the secret."

Reyes turned to Scully, gesturing for Mulder to hold that thought for a moment.

"How long do you think I will need until I am fully recovered, or close to that?"

"Oh." the Healer said, uncrossing her arms, surprised by the other Auror's sudden question. "Your wounds have healed faster than I was predicting. Maybe a week, at the most, with the potions you are taking."

"A week will have to do.", the former double-agent said. And then turning to Mulder, she finally answered to his question, her hazel eyes shining with the light of a new plan. "I think I know exactly how to go around that."


	15. The Labyrinth of a Thousand Bells

_[present - April 26th, 1996]_

Sam felt the brush run through her hair, the sensation both as new and familiar as greeting an old friend that she haven't seen in years - her faded childhood memories came back to the shores of her mind, the same scenario happening again after so many years. Even the eventual tugging in her hair was there.

"Ouch. Careful there, Fox."

"Sorry. I am a bit rusty", he told her in a gentle voice, running the brush down her hair once more, the same memories coming to him but from his point of view: helping Samantha getting ready for bed by brushing her hair and securing it with ribbons. Even though they were now adults, he thought she would like having this kind of routine back, giving back some normalcy and spending time with her.

Specially with the prospect of what was about to happen.

Sam was so anxious she wouldn't stop fidgeting and for the entire week she was shaking her leg nonstop whenever she was sitting. Mulder couldn't blame her though, everyone was feeling just the same, but they were a little better at hiding it - just a little.

That was his attempt of trying to lighten up the mood a little. He put down the brush on Sam's nightstand and started to braid it just like he used to do when she was seven or eight. But unlike then, her dark hair was now streaked with many silver hairs, like a meteor rain in the moonless night - even thought Sam was just twenty nine, she went through the pain of a lifetime (if not more), and all the stress caused her hair to start graying a lot and very early.

"It is a lot better now. Your hair, I mean. That is a good sign that your health is improving more and more, from inside out."

"I've noticed that, too…", and then, after a pause, she added "but... why would they keep it at all? Miss Scully said it takes a lot of nutrients to grow hair this long and I wasn't really… _overflowing_ with them."

Mulder thought for a moment before explaining his theory.

"Could be because of the experiments. Or, oddly as it might seem, just the tradition and superstition that witches could never cut their hair. If they did, they would lose their powers. Which again, sounds odd coming from the Purity Control, but considering its origins with the Kryceks, it seems fitting."

"Miss Scully has short hair and still is very powerful.", Sam pointed out.

"That's what I meant with them being superstitious. It is this old magic tradition from medieval times."

The siblings went silent for a couple of minutes as Mulder finished the long plait with a crimson velvet ribbon.

"Speaking of Miss Scully… She told me about her own abduction, on the night Miss Reyes arrived.", she turned to look at Mulder as he sat by her on the edge of her bed. "I… I'm sorry you also had to be there… when it happened..."

She was aware how that must have been a terrible impact to him, once more having to witness someone he loved being taken and without any chance to help or prevent it.

The Auror sighed with the memory of his partners voice reverberating in the distance on a cold mountain, and once more he wished he could go back in time to help her, but that would be a violation of rules not even Fox Mulder would ever dare to make - changing the past was dangerous and the consequences could be _catastrophic_.

"Ironically enough, the worst part was when she was returned.", Mulder said, leaning back against the wall next to the bed.

"She… she told me about that...", and then, after a small pause, she added. "I hate what they do to us. I hate it so much, Fox. To all of us that had been taken. Even to Miss Reyes."

Sam didn't know her at all, but her Legilimency sensitivity was enough to show her through feelings all those years with the Purity Control had almost destroyed her as well, and not only because of the near mortal attack of the Agents on her days before.

"Yeah. She used to be very… _very_ _different_. She went with us to school. She was goofy and had a funny obsession with magic rituals under Muggle's perspective - she thought it was hilarious, because it kind of was, she would read passages of Muggle books on magic to us and we would just laugh our asses off for hours. She usually went along my weird subjects about Star Elves and their magic and all of that while Scully rolled her eyes in boredom on the background. Now we all can see how _thrilling_ it is to have the Cigarette Smoking Dude as your bestie for seven years."

His bitterness was evident. Spender made sure to ruin _everyone_ he ever cared about - Mulder's entire family and his friends, whether by directly torturing them or simply crushing them psychologically for almost a decade.

He looked up back to Sam.

"I hate what he did to all of you, too."

She also leaned against the wall, legs over the edge of her bed like Mulder's and laying her head on his left shoulder. They just stood there and looked at nothing in particular as their minds dove deeper into their own thoughts, fears, possibilities of victory and everything in between.

"Fox?"

"Yes?"

"What is that necklace Miss Scully is always fidgeting with?", she asked, trying to purposefully change the subject into something else.

"It is a little golden cross and a medal she got from her mother.", he explained. "She was raised and is a catholic, so she and her sister Melissa got similar crosses made of gold as a Christmas gift when they were teens. The medal was given to Scully by her mother last year when she adopted Kevin. It is a Saint Anne medal - the patron of mothers."

"She was holding it when we were talking about little Kevin, days ago.", she then nudged him lightly with her elbow before adding, "And how I thought he was my nephew."

She couldn't see his face but she was pretty sure he was blushing, as he always did whenever Scully was mentioned like that, or vice-versa. But he didn't show that in his voice when he spoke after a moment of silence.

"He is, in a way."

"He is adorable. Congratulations, buttmunch.

"You too, _Aunt Sammy_ ", he answered with the same serious-but-also-humorous tone she used, nudging her in return.

She let a small laugh escape, both amused by her brother's teasings, but also feeling a new kind of happiness - somehow she indeed could be an aunt figure to Kevin and she had never thought of that like this before. But it wasn't long until the previous concerned thoughts filled her mind again, especially due to the mentioning of Kevin.

 _Fox_?

 _Yes?_

 _I am scared._

He clicked his tongue in a preoccupied way, lifting his left arm to wrap it around her shoulders. She held him, her head against him, and doing her best not to let worried tears escape.

 _Me too, Sam. We all are_., he answered his little sister as he gently rubbed her arm, his grim words being softened by his reassuring gesture.

 _Do you think we can do this?_

Mulder wanted to say "yes, of course", but he wasn't sure of it, either. Monica's plan was solid but still risky and relying on a lot of "what ifs". He didn't want to lie to Sam. He said nothing, but kept rubbing his sister's arm, trying to somehow instill some confidence he didn't really had himself.

 _[the following night - April 27th, 1996]_

Her face was dark, and she was so silent her presence could be mistaken by the one of a ghost's. Everyone knew why she was like that and no questions were made on how she was feeling, not even from Mulder - even him knew that would be a mistake.

But he knew he had to tell her that once more.

 _You don't have to do this, Scully. There is too much at stake for… for us._

She glanced at him as she checked on Sam's provisions for the fourth time in the last half hour. Her eyes had determination and a hint of irritation for being told that again, but that was kept at bay because she was aware her of how deadly worried her partner was, too.

 _I know. But I have to. This is also about me, Mulder, and I promise I will be careful. I won't leave Kevin once more on his own._

 _We won't._ , he answered her.

The fact they and Skinner's squad would stick together in teams to increase their chances of defense was the only thing to actually quell his anxiety. The perspective of his sister also going back to that place was pretty much his worst nightmare two fold, and seeing Scully so grim after they left Kevin at her mother's with a goodbye that could be a permanent farewell, wasn't helping it either.

However, there they were: getting ready, dressed in vests that were practical, highly protected with spells and capeless so they would be able to run faster if necessary; filling in bottomless bags with all sorts of strong healing potions or simply walking around in sheer, hard-controlled apprehension. The one that seemed calmer out of everyone was Reyes, but even her was pacing around the room, unable to stay still.

When everyone was ready, which was surprisingly fast for such a dangerous night that laid ahead of them, they all gathered together in the main room and waited for Skinner's message to Mulder. It came in at 11PM sharp, as it was set.

 _We are ready.,_ was all he wrote.

Monica pulled out from her pocket the same galleon she had used before to escape the facility - it had helped her escape once, and she hoped it would help all of them leave safely from that place. A silly superstition, but if it wouldn't help them, it wouldn't harm them either. She set it as a Portkey once more, writing in the spell the exact coordinates of the Purity Control's entrance room.

Everyone pulled out their wands.

Sam breathed in and out slowly, focusing on keeping her anxiety down and her powers up on the tip of her fingers, ready to be used just like the special training they had been doing. Her pupils glowed faintly, her magic much more familiar to her body now that she was consciously using it. The horrible sensation of her feet trapped inside boots wasn't helping at all, however. She swallowed her fear and the others did just the same, as the youngest Mulder thought about her unfinished studies up to that point, and trusting the intensive training she had had on the last few days, after Monica's arrival.

Reyes held the Galeon on her palm and all the others touched the golden surface with the tip of their fingers, waiting for the Portkey's timer get to zero, fear being the first thing on the top of everyone's minds - but determination to finally set things right just after that.

With the weird sensation of a hook attached to their belly buttons, the group was dragged across lands and waters, woods and valleys, to finally reach the cold Russian mountains.

The silent tension of the Wanderers' main room was then replaced by the immediate sound of intense combat and yells of anger and pain, for no one had time for anything else other than raise their wands or hands and defend their lives along with Skinner and his team, who had used a Portkey at the same time they did. When they entered the white trapping walls of the Purity Control, they all immediately turned around in their position, forming a huge circle of defense, backs to backs, surprising the P. C. Agents in front of each of them.

Quickly, all the fifty Security Agents were knocked down with spells and tied up, ready to be arrested.

"Go, now.", Skinner told them. "You know what to do. Lupin and Mad-Eye will help me here, we will be after you soon."

As he said that, they saw the unconscious Agents being gathered to be transported to the Ministry also through Portkey, that room being the only door in and out from that place through any kind of Apparition or spell. Getting rid of the most Security Agents they could would be extremely helpful, and the group wasted no time as Monica Reyes stepped forward to be their guide in that place she was forced to learn by heart, and had learned to hate every corner of in the process.

"How do we get the hell out of here?", asked Frohike, looking around and seeing no doors in the entrance room.

"You need the password. _Angelus Lapsus.",_ the former double agent said pointing up her wand to one of the white, smooth walls. It slowly slid sideways like a glass door, revealing a corridor and more Agents, this time dropped by Sam's extremely powerful _Protego_ and everyone's spells against them, immediately knocking down the Agents along with pieces of the walls and the ceiling.

Crossing the portal, the first corridor was large and seemed never-ending, just as the Agents guarding that place - another group, smaller this time with twelve or thirteen people, ran towards them. Sam burst her protection around her friends again, making any offensive spell against them bounce back as the three Special Aurors and the Lone Wanderers quickly defeated and magically tied up the second group of Agents. Relying on Sam's Protego was really the best tactic, it seemed.

The adrenaline was running wild in the youngest Mulder's blood, keeping most of her anxiety at bay along with all of her terror about that place. The feeling of finally being able to return them everything they've given her for years was drowning any negative feelings that tried to come to the surface.

When they were setting the plan, the only rule they had agreed with among themselves was try their best not to kill, except in extreme situations - the world wouldn't miss these people at all, but Mulder, Scully and the Wanderers wanted them all to be punished according to the law and both Sam and Monica silently agreed that killing mercilessly would only destroy themselves even further, and not the Agents they would come across with.

However they were fully aware that if things went down the drain, there would of course be no option other than extermination - the group wished those would be scarce, for every single one of them, even Sam, just knew that they would kill that night, and that was a thought that filled them with dread.

Under that thought, Sam conjured a small vial and quickly drank from it, magicking the empty glass tube away into her bottomless bag. The vertigo sensation that was starting to form vanished almost immediately with the magically enhanced, concentrated supplements.

"Over this way!", Reyes said, pointing out the corridor leading to the South Wing, the Illusion of a map moving in front of her like glowing smoke.

[ _a week prior - April 20th, 1996]_

"I think I know exactly how to go around that", Monica told them. She turned to Sam. "With your help."

"W-what?", Sam replied, taken aback. "How?"

"Your Legilimency powers. Whoever communicated with me there, wants to be found. I have Visions, and I was only an opportunity passing by to them, but I can't _force_ Visions to come. However, since they are part of the secret, if not the Secret Keeper themselves, they can tell us where they are." Reyes explained. "And if it was a ghost of someone already dead, they could either come forward and talk again, or Samantha could find someone else from this new project - the P. C. wouldn't have just one victim being trapped in there, even more if it is really another project going on behind the curtains."

"It makes sense, in a logical way" Byers said. "A lot, really. Sam here could reach Mulder countries away. But there is a lot of speculation that makes this plan extremely risky."

Reyes looked up from her hospital bed, her now permanent frown making her look constantly angry.

"I know it is risky. But this is the only plan we have now," the Auror-double agent looked around at the group. "isn't it?"

The group exchanged a glance, which was enough for them to admit there was no plan indeed.

"We were tracking down their activities through my DA maps." Langly explained, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "They've worked of course, we can see where the facility is, but we were still studying ways of getting inside without knowing the secret ourselves."

Reyes looked at him, thoughtful.

"I want to take a look at it, if you don't mind. Maybe we still can use them in our favor."

Langly's face lit up with the light of a new idea.

"Of course - you've been there to map it down. I will bring them for you to see, and we can add your information to it!"

Reyes nodded with a little smile.

"Good."

 _[present - April 26th, 1996]_

With the help of the facility's DA map, now excelled and improved by Langly with Monica's help, they were able to know where the Agents were and how many were coming, which was saving them from countless surprise attacks. Skinner gathered his team with volunteers of his trust and with the help of Albus Dumbledore, as the Hogwarts Headmaster owed the Assistant-Director a favor from many years before. They would come after them, picking up every fallen Agent to take them under custody.

"We are almost there!", Reyes said from her guiding position. They ran down a curved corridor, white as everything in there, and they faced the very wall destroyed by Reyes just a week before, now intact once more. "We are here."

"We don't have much time.", told Scully, looking at the glowing map Reyes had open in front of her. "More Agents will be here soon, if they don't Aparate straight to us."

"They won't.", Frohike told them as he and the others watched their backs, wands up. "They know we are here, but they don't know _where_ we are. Confusion Spell plus some other little Lone Wanderer tricks."

"Yeah, but let's try not to abuse our luck in here, so please, let's hurry.", added Byers.

"Sam, you know what to do.", Mulder told her in an encouraging voice, under layers of apprehension and shallow breathing from their run.

Sam nodded to her brother and closed her eyes in order to focus better.

 _What do I have to do?,_ she asked herself, in her own methods and uses of magic - she answered herself right away, _I have to find someone's voice. Any voice. Like in the forest, months ago._

She felt her mind expanding slowly and she saw the bright, golden glow of her friends' complex web of thoughts, and she felt hundreds of others around them in that building. Some would glow more than others and she knew the ones fading away or that looked strangely worn out were the minds of the Abductees still trapped in there. They had an odd, green-ish glow, probably due to the mind control or the tampered blood they all had in common to her.

She had learned how to see people's minds from afar, without actually hearing their thoughts. She didn't want to repeat her experience in the Albanian forest, ever again - hearing thousands of voices in your head that don't belong to you was what nightmares would look like in the realm of the awaken.

Focusing harder, she ignored her friends' minds and all the other ones glowing bright and golden - the free people. She then sorted out the Abductees that were too far from where they were. With only a few dozen lights remaining, she quickly looked through them individually and what she was looking for was soon as clear as water.

There was a different color in there - turquoise, sometimes shifting to lavender, something that would stand out easily if it wasn't so weak, it looked almost identical to the others.

Sam knew it was exactly what she was looking for, not only because of its odd coloration but also the location - a few rooms away from the South Wing corridor. She also knew it was the one because she heard a distinct, specific sound the very moment she had laid eyes on the color-shifting mind, a sound that reminded her of rain drops falling, but not quite that, either.

The youngest Mulder sibling opened her eyes, that felt warm with her powers being used so strongly, her brother's face being the first she saw.

"I've found them.", she revealed, opening and taking in another vial, as she felt dizziness starting to form like a cloud in her brain.

"Are you sure? Did they talk to you?", asked Reyes.

"No. I mean, yes."

"Yes or no?", Langly asked, confused.

"I think they did. But they didn't use words, I heard something instead. Like rain falling.", she explained and then quickly adding, a childhood memory correcting her perception on the very last second, "no, not rain.. More like… Like a cat's bell."

Immediately, Mulder looked back at Scully, whose expression was the pale shock of someone who had just seen a ghost for the first time.

"What is it?", Frohike asked, noticing the deadly silence and strange atmosphere falling between them.

"There is no time to explain.", Scully replied. "We can't stay here any longer."

"Show us Sam, where is this person?", asked Byers.

Sam nodded and turned around. She faced the wall on their right and touched it with her palm open on the pristine surface.

The Rules of Magic were messy and complicated - they were exact and precise like Arithmancy and Transfiguration, but they were also emotional and had life on their own, like Visions, Priori Incantatem and even the Killing Curse, which required the true will and desire from the caster to actually work.

Sam had just learned the Secret from the Secret itself, and that also meant the Secret was sentient and didn't want to stay like that any longer. Sam felt a strange connection to that last part, which was the one thought she had the time to process as the blank wall dissolved into an open corridor in front of everyone's eyes like it had always been there to them. They crossed the limiar between the place they were and that entirely new, unmapped area.

When Scully stepped in, she felt like she had also crossed into the oneiric world as the bells from her dreams rang for her for the first time while she was still awake. Her pace faltered and she held her breath in surprise, but her body still remembered the danger they were in and it remembered on its own she had to keep going - a strange _deja vu_ from months of repetitive dreams now coming into reality. They were ringing faintly and far away, but they wouldn't stop.

The Healer quickened up her pace.

 _I hear it too, Mulder._

 _What?,_ he asked, but already knowing the answer from the urgency in her mindvoice.

 _The bells from my dreams. Mulder, what is going on…?,_ she asked him, and the confusion and fear in the voice only he could hear alarmed him a little. He slowed just enough she would be able to run side by side to him.

 _Maybe this is it, Scully. Maybe your dreams_ did _have a meaning all along: we are in a remote area, on the top of a mountain. Inside a white labyrinth._

 _Yes,_ she answered. _Normally I would say you are just stretching things like you always do, but I cannot ignore how… weird this is._

 _Hearing bells out of the blue might be the cherry on top of anything. That would freak_ me _out, you are handling this way better than I ever would._

He was right on his own peculiar ways, like he also usually was. There would be no way this was all just a coincidence, and Sam had heard it too, moments before. Sam was trying to guide them through her Legilimency, but it was clearly being hard for her to focus on both the person's mind ahead and the way they had to go through.

The Healer-Auror knew what she had to do right away.

"Listen," she said as they turned another corner southward, "as I said, there is really no time to explain what just happened back there, so I will make it short. I… I think this might be very important."

Reyes quickly looked back at her as they all kept moving, her hazel eyes deadly serious.

"What is it, Dana?"

"Months ago, I started to have dreams about a place on the top of a mountain, and feeling I was being attracted towards there. I thought it was just my own abduction and Sam's arrival playing tricks on me, but now Sam mentioned a sound like 'a cat's bell' - I've been hearing dozens of sleigh bells ringing during all of my dreams as I climbed the mountain and got into a labyrinth on top.", and then, after a small pause, she added, "I am hearing them."

"What, _right now_?", Frohike asked, apprehensive, turning to look at her as well as they still quickly went through the corridor.

"Yes. It is faint, but I hear it. And the more we move, the clearer they get."

Monica's expression was an enigma, but she seemed to be thinking so much they could almost hear the gears turning in her brain.

"This might be a Vision, Dana. A very singular kind, but still. This is no coincidence."

"But why? Why is this happening?", the Healer asked.

"You will probably know when we get there."

Without hesitation, Scully ran to Sam's side to help her lead the way through her own senses. Guiding Sam's steps towards the origin of the sound, the younger witch was able to fully concentrate on the mind ahead and they moved quicker. They were so close Sam was able to see the faint glow of that unknown mind become agitated and shift colors faster. Watching the map forming before her eyes as the detail was being added in real time in the secret area, Monica thought something was odd.

"Why haven't we seen Agents yet…?"

"Maybe that's precisely the point.", Byers answered, practical. "This is such a top secret area, very few people must have been told about it.

"Still odd, it is a highly secret project.", Frohike replied. "Maybe they are all gathered, searching for us in this building, but still, I don't trust this."

"As we shouldn't trust it anyway.", Reyes told him. "This place is a curse on its own. It deceives you, and once here, it never truly leaves you. Stay alert, and never drop your guard."

They ran along a round corner under the green-tinted light, Mulder, Byers and Langly testing the air for weird spells and curses on each and every step, making sure all was clear for them, and untrapping several of them along the way. The group was so in sync it was almost as if they were all sharing their minds to each other. At the end of the curve, a dark purple door with a silver symbol engraved - the statue of a young woman coming to life - shone like black marble against the intense white.

There was no need for Sam to tell them that was the place. Just like at the entrance to that hidden wing, Sam touched the door, like she was the bridge between the entire group and that person inside. The door clicked and opened slowly. It revealed a narrower corridor, with similar white walls from before but the floor had the same deep purple from the door instead of the pale, desaturated minty color from the rest of the building's.

It ran neverending for what seemed kilometers and several closed doors were waiting for them in there. Frohike made a clicking sound of impatience.

"We can't get to something we cannot find, right.", he said. "And if we get the wrong one, it probably will tell them where we are, if it hadn't already. Best security system, of course. Bastards."

"But we also have the best here showing the way.", replied Langly. "Where should we go, Sam, Miss Scully?"

"There.", both of them said at the same time, pointing ahead to the left side of the long corridor.

The group followed their lead, not touching any of the other doors, aware that opening the wrong one would throw them into deadly traps.

"It's close…", Sam said.

She stopped by one of the many similar doors in that endless corridor, the others doing the same thing as they guarded. Drinking in her fourth vial of enhanced solution in an automatic motion, Sam's pupils were shining like suns in her deep concentration.

Then, the bells finally took over Dana Scully's mind, as if she herself was a temple.

It felt away from reality, something between a haze and a trance clouding her senses. In this surreal liminality, Scully saw the last part of the story going on for months in her dreams, the final scene which made everything make sense and that confirmed what Reyes had just told her moments before.

 _[The Vision]_

 _…...It was louder._

 _Louder._

 _She bent over, covering her ears. In her agony, there was finally light._

 _The bells were not reverberating through the winds of the desert. They were not tolling through the mountain rocks or chiming under the white dome: they were inside her head all along, and not merely a force pulling her towards that place._

 _She could only hear chimes and bells, but for the first time she heard them the way they should have been understood as since the very first time she captured its first notes by the mountain side - it was urgent and upsetting and trapping because someone was calling for her, but not as a strong Summoning spell like she thought during all this time._

 _It was as a desperate cry for help._

 _When such thought enlightened her mind, all the white walls disappeared, falling down like giant dominoes in a long chain, disappearing seconds before hitting the ground._

 _The vastness of that place overwhelmed her, and she saw on the other side of the dome, distant in that bright space, a black shiny door standing in nothing, without walls or frames to hold it up._

 _It was louder._

 _It was louder._

 _And it was no longer coming from inside her mind - it was coming from behind the door._

She blinked and the Vision ceased immediately - the Healer-Auror was back inside the facility. No more than a couple of seconds seemed to have passed, as everyone in the group was still performing their guarding and protection tasks, at the same time Sam was still trying to open the door, unsuccessful.

Scully stepped forward towards it, just behind Sam.

 _I am here_ , she thought.

As if Scully had just used a Spell or a password, the door clicked and slowly opened before them.


	16. The Galatea Project

As silent as Scully's announcement, the large purple door opened before them.

It revealed a big, white room with heavy counters that held strange-looking objects made of glass and fine silver. Some of them Scully recognized being Muggle science instruments, like microscopes, which was a weird and out of place thing to see in a fully-Magical location. However, not even the Healer was able to tell what most of them were or what they did - probably invented by the Purity Control themselves, using Star Elf technology and components.

The group would definitely be very interested at examining each one of them, or maybe reading the notes written in the messy calligraphy of doctors and scientists left on the counters, but their attention was completely caught by something else from the very moment they had stepped into that place.

There was a massive force field floating in the middle of the big room, above their heads.

It looked like a giant bubble in behavior and texture, but it had a dark, violet tint to it. Inside the force field, someone was levitating right in the middle of it, their body and hair floating around as if underwater. They felt their hearts sink when they saw It was a small child, laid in the air. They couldn't see their face, only the child's back above them, wearing a simple gown.

It was Byers who first saw it, his gasp of surprise loud in the unnaturally quiet room.

"Look…!", he pointed out towards the child, alarmed.

It took a moment but after the group saw it too, it could not be ignored - mixing up with the violet color filtered from the field above, a little string of darkness circled around the floating little body.

"Oh… Oh, no…", said Langly. "Please tell me we are not too late."

"It is very small, in the initial stage. There's still a chance of saving them.", Scully replied, not quite able to hide the hopes in her voice as her mind also fought through the mist and hypnotic sounds taking over her.

"Is that what I think it is?", asked Sam, who had only read a little about it.

"Yes.", Reyes answered grimly, not taking her eyes away from it. "An Obscurus."

Scully braced herself when she felt the curtain in her mind getting denser, like rain turning into a full storm: the bells were so loud to her, it almost seem to echo in the room. It was haunting and hazing, and she finally understood what they really were when images that were not being formed by her own mind filled her mind's eye in a torrent.

They were surreal, dreamlike landscapes - deserts of salt and snow at night; golden, shimmering sand under the sun; broken, dry earth thirsty for rain. No lifeforms whatsoever, except herself, witnessing the places change with their colors.

Scully wanted to ask what was the meaning of all of that, what did they want, and why her.

But she didn't have to ask anything, for the ever changing scenes before her mind's eye, faster and faster and faster, making her feel dizzy and overwhelmed, finally let through a pattern and she finally understood what the child was telling her.

 _Not_

 _Leave_

 _I_

Scully opened her eyes. The group was still looking up at the violet force field, once more like no time had passed at all.

"The… The child… ", she started, drawing the attention of the group to her. "They talked to me. Right now, I…"

She hesitated, but stepped forward towards the bubble, looking up.

"How was that, like a Vision again?", Frohike asked her.

"The child is using Legilimency to communicate, but solely using images and feelings instead of words or memories. It doesn't seem like it, but they are conscious and very scared, we have to get them out of here."

"Okay, but how are we going to go through this… ?", Sam inquired, gesturing up towards the field.

"I'm not sure, but we have to try.", Scully answered, lifting her wand. "Try anything you know, offensive, defensive, Finite Incantatem, anything; protect yourselves against backfiring protection."

The command was loud and clear and everyone did as she said, but everyone's spells hit the field and did absolutely nothing against it - everyone's, except Sam's, that stretched the field, making a hole that closed itself after a few seconds. As if someone had casted Lumos over his head, Mulder's face illuminated with the light of realization, as he also noted the discoloration returning to its original violet tint right where Scully's spell had hit it.

"Both Sam and Scully have Star Elf magic infused to them. That's it, that's the key."

"It will only cease with this type of magic.", Scully completed his thought, her expression also changing with the new information.

Without a word, the witches stepped in, side by side under the sphere that was very similar to a huge amethyst gem. They exchanged a glance - Scully's eyes were filled with silence and determination while Sam carried purpose, but also something else. Noticing her hesitation, the Healer nodded to her, as if telling the younger witch she was not alone in that task. Sam nodded back, the uncertainty fading a little.

As if they were connected, they turned to the sphere again, Sam pointing both her hands up towards it and Scully brandishing her wand like a sword. The light, filtered through the force field, cast a purple shadow over the witches' faces. They felt like they were about to fight against a hurricane with their bare hands only, but they had to try anyway.

Still in silence, they violently attacked the field.

Their powers, crimson and bright, hit the amethyst surface of the force field, producing enormous sparkles like sprite lightning. Mulder, Reyes and the Wanderers were watching the witches at the same time they still guarded the group against any sudden danger, and all heard when a low whistle filled the air and the atmosphere became heavier and heavier like a deadly storm was about to pour. The whistle, at first low and subtle like the buzz in someone's ears under a change of pressure, became louder and thinner. It reminded them of a scream, as if the field itself was in pain. There was a metallic smell in the air, and the sparkles were almost reaching the witches underneath.

Scully screamed with the effort of keeping her magic flowing - no one saw when her pupils reflected light like the eyes of a cat, but Scully felt them get warm the more her power increased. On the other hand, Sam was deadly silent in her deep concentration, eyes shining like suns as she channeled her powers into the sphere like it was a spear that would finally hit it and break it.

With a loud crack, the sphere was crossed by an enormous line, shining bright and clearly showing them it wouldn't last much longer. With the sound of the windows of an entire building breaking, the force field collapsed in an explosion of light and violet shards.

This time, everyone heard the thousand bells ringing at the very moment of the explosion.

Mulder, Monica and the Wanderers, immediately conjured Protego Spells around all of them, but it was Sam's instincts that actually saved them with her own kind of Protego. She dropped to her knees, feeling drained and with a shallow breath.

Feeling very drained herself, Scully turned to her as Mulder quickly stepped in to help as well. They saw Sam took in two vials of solution, one after the other with her shaky hands, and watched the color come back to her cheeks.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me.", she told them. "The child…"

The Aurors turned their heads to see Reyes walking past them. She was looking up and then raised her hands towards the child, who was floating slowly to her arms, as if their body was being guided by some spell on its own, light as a feather in the wind. The Obscurus was nowhere to be found, probably returned to its host.

Reyes turned around to face them, holding the small child they still couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but had long, blonde hair down to their back, cascading over their face and over Reyes' arm like fine threads made of sun. They couldn't quite see their face but it seemed like the child was around four or five years old and was now just asleep in the Auror's arms, their head against Reyes' chest.

"We are here for way too long. Grab everything you can Summon.", Monica said, breaking the silence.

Scully was very intrigued - and, admitting to herself, a little scared - by the mental connection she had with that little child, but there was no time to dwell in any of those feelings at that moment. They had to strip that place down in search for documents, annotations, instructions, anything that would tell them what was being done down there and, and who was that child. If he of she had a family, they had to return to them.

However, it was a very high possibility that the little one was an orphan that no one would ever look for. That last thought made Scully sad, and made her think of Kevin. She had to return to her son and she had to help that little one since, for some reason, she was the one being drawn to that place, towards that unknown child. In an odd turn of destiny, she felt like it was her responsibility to make sure the unknown little one was healthy and okay, and she would take it.

Monica stood there holding the child with both Frohike and Byers by her side, guarding the entrance and keeping their defense up, as Mulder, Scully, Sam and Langly were Summoning all the notes on the counters and files from cabinets. The Aurors scanned the place for secrets, with the help of Sam's magic, but they whether weren't able to find any or the place itself was such a major secret already that there was no need for hiding anything else. With time running against them, and not taking more than three minutes to gather all they could Summon into a bottomless bag, they decided they had enough.

"I have an idea." Scully started, quickly explaining what would be the best formation to leave. "Wanderers: one of you will carry the child and the other two will give us support from the back; Sam: you will go in the middle, focusing on our protection again. Mulder, Monica and I, we'll go on the front to fight off anyone that might show up."

Everyone thought it was good enough of a plan, since it was based on their original escape formation anyway, with slight modifications now that they had the little one to carry with them. Monica gave the child for Frohike to hold and they turned around to leave.

Reyes was the first to feel it - after years having to live with it, she would recognize the smell of tobacco from miles away.

"Sam, watch out!", she warned the group a second before the Cigarette Smoking Man showed through the door frame, followed by at least fifty Purity Control Agents, all led by Alex Krycek.

Hearing the alarm from the former double-agent, Sam cast her Protection just in time, all the spells from the P. C. unity bouncing away from them - even what the Aurors of the group recognized as being Death Curses and they saw the true meaning of Sam's abduction documents stating her magic was literally unbreachable. The youngest Mulder sibling held her shield up, her hands up in front of her and her pupils bright with the power and effort.

Behind Spender, Krycek had a sinister grin and he looked straight at Reyes. She merely stared back with a blank expression - she knew he desired to kill her himself due to her escape the week before, but he wasn't worth of even her worst feelings and thoughts. That night, her ties to the P. C. would be cut, forever.

Spender didn't look too worried none of his men's attacks hit their targets - he merely walked into the room and around the shield, as if he was just absentmindedly strolling through the park. The group inside the shield followed him with their wands up and expressions ranging from sheer hate and disgust, to fear and indifference. Spender lift his hand, holding a cigarette between his fingers, as a sign for his men to stop attacking.

"Not bad, young Samantha. Not bad at all", he said, blowing blue smoke out. "They told me you were exceptional and indeed you are..."

"Don't. Just… don't.", Scully interrupted him. Right in the front of the group between Mulder and Reyes, she was almost shaking with rage. "Don't you dare talking to her _at all_."

The Smoking Man gave her a sad smile.

"I knew there was a reason why I always liked you, Auror Scully, even being a _Mudblood_."

"Fuck you."

He raised his hands as if not wanting to pick a fight. His mocking only made her hate him more, but she kept still, watching what that performance was all about. Spender looked at the woman by her side.

"And you, Reyes. I'm definitely _surprised_ to see you are still alive. You were my right arm, such _a promising_ apprentice. You could have had everything."

Reyes didn't answer at all and that made her look even more frightening.

"She betrayed once.", Spender said, as if giving them some kind of advice. "And as my lovely mother used to say, if someone do it once, they will do it twice. Do you know how many she killed under my orders…?"

Mulder sighed, impatience emanating from him.

"Are you always this dumb or you just forgot to eat your bananas today? She never betrayed you, asshole."

"You might never know her real intentions."

"What are _your intentions_ , then? Kidnapping my sister, kidnapping my partner? _Torturing children_?", the Auror raised his voice, as he gestured behind him, towards the little one held in Frohike's arms. "Tells us, _oh wise guru_ , what is 'The Truth', then _."_

Spender laughed at Mulder's mocking as if he really thought it was funny, his right hand holding up the blue light cigarette.

"Your father and I, we were very close, you know. I've always liked you too, Fox. Your determination, your _blind faith_ in the unknown since you were a young boy. I wish my son Jeffrey was as strong-minded as you."

"You experimented on your own wife, dude. Cut the crap and answer the question.", Langly cut him from the back, disgust in his tone as they finally had the answer to Cassandra Spender's connection to the CIgarette Smoking Man.

"Don't be so impatient, boy. I am getting there.", he brought the cigarette to his lips for a moment, pacing around slowly like he was just chatting with friends. "Bill Mulder and I had the same will to purge the world from these half-species that are Mudbloods. We just did it our own way. But sometimes even we were surprised - the only ones we could ever get really far in the enhancement were a Pure Blood, our lovely young Samantha here, and the daughter of a Muggle born, which is the child you are trying to steal from this room."

He pointed his cigarette hand towards them as he said that.

"Who is she? Where did you get her from?", Sam spoke for the first time in the conversation - she was trying her best to keep the barrier and her energy up. With one hand still up, she took another vial.

Spender chuckled a little.

"Those are very interesting questions, my child. For over forty years, the Ganymede Project had been our only goal. You are our most successful subject in it, followed by my dear, but now deceased wife you've just mentioned. Both of them were Pure-Bloods, so as you can see, we were not succeeding at all. Our goal was to improve Muggles and not the ones who didn't need any improvements. So, in '88 we started something else - the _Galatea Project_. Starting from scratch, from zero. Creating life itself."

"You mean…", Scully asked. "You've created a child here with insemination…?"

"Oh no, nothing mundane like that, no.", Spender answered, casual. "We got the material from a Muggle-born and infused it with Star Elf magic. It worked just like that.", he snapped his fingers. "Unfortunately, we had to get the... _help_ of a Muggle doctor whose specialty is insemination, which is very ironic, but Dr Pendrell was very useful even though he won't remember a thing about his successful part in this brilliant experiment."

" _I'm going to kill you, you bastard.",_ Scully said in a low, deadly voice, controlling her urge to just rage on him like a mad lioness - Sean Pendrell had always told her how the Wizarding world was so terrifying, and it was almost as if he actually knew what they had done to him. She wondered if she would ever have the courage to tell him the truth.

"Don't threaten me yet, Miss Scully. It was all for the greater good, as Grindelwald used to say back in the great days. He used to underestimate and undervalue Muggles, but I'm nothing like him, you know. I wouldn't commit the same mistake."

"Good, you took some History of Magic lessons, _woo-hoo_.", Mulder replied. "So, your point is that you are so oh-very-special and wanted to create a child that was never meant to be. We know you wanted them to be functional not only as vessels of extraordinary magic but also in society, as normal people. It seems to me you just created life to see it end miserably."

"You are correct, Fox. As usual, your intelligence just shines.", he said, in a non-sarcastic way. "Unfortunately, our subject E753 here had started the process of becoming an Obscurial, which can be reversed at this stage but we doubt we will. She seems too conscious of her own and what she is, even though she's only two years old. But she is our very first Galatea baby that ever actually came to term."

"So… there are no others?", Reyes asked, hiding the actual relief she felt under that revelation with a plain, emotionless voice.

"Unfortunately, no.", the Cigarette Smoking Man told them, disappointed - for the first time in the conversation looking genuine while expressing an emotion. "We tried the genetic material from many Mudblood women, but only one seemed to work for some odd reason. I knew there was a reason why I've always liked you, Auror Scully. Even being a Mudblood."

It seemed like an eternity but it only took a few seconds, as usually thoughts do - Scully re-watched all of her dreams in her mind, like a movie, crossing the parallels between them and reality. And suddenly, every single thing made sense.

This just _couldn't be real._

"What…?", the Healer asked, taken aback for the first time in that conversation. All the rage in her had been replaced by a cold, paralyzing feeling in her stomach and she thought she would be sick. When both Reyes and Mulder turned to hold her shoulders when she faltered, she knew their colorless, shocked features hid all the rage she had inside herself moments before.

"You are a dead man, you fucking chimney. ", Scully heard Frohike yell from behind her.

The Healer-Auror felt her body once more regain the control, as if encouraging her after such revelation - she couldn't just stand there. She had to do something. Anything. Her mind, hazed by the shock, unclouded a little and she raised her eyes towards C. G. B. Spender. His mocking little smile that had been there during the entire conversation was still on his face, as if he was the goddamn winner in a race he already knew he would be victorious.

Scully decided that was enough - every single one of them decided it was enough. Once more, as if they were all linked through Legilimency, the group positioned as they had planned, knowing that would be the moment their killing rule would at last find its exception.

Without hesitation, Sam ceased the barrier around them.

The chaos was instantly set when the Agents organized themselves around Spender to protect him and attacked the group like a devastating avalanche running down the mountainside.

Sam was busy protecting everyone and herself, using all her focus and power to save her friends from enemy offensive spells, and eventually attacking back whenever she saw an opportunity. Mulder ran through the Agents like a spirit of the wind, moving around and dodging spells like they were nothing and knocking his enemy down at full force and equal violence.

Reyes used her Apparating tactic again, which had a result very similar to Mulder's. She appeared out of nowhere among the Agents like a ghost, but her face was like stone - hard and plain, as she was being as strong as rock against her enemies. At the same time, she was once more going against her pacific nature and her own promise not to ever kill again. At some point, she turned around and there was Alex Krycek, the same hatred towards her on his grin and a challenge on his words she barely heard. She Apparated next to him, accepting his challenge - he had no time to see what hit him.

Protecting Frohike and the little girl, Byers and Langly were making turns to attack so their defense had no breaches - there was always a wand in the air, attacking; Langly with looser but fast moves and Byers with swift and precise movements, as if he was fencing and not dueling with wand and magic. Even with the child up in his arm, Frohike tried his best to hold his wand up and protect his group, and watch out for their backs for any dirty moves.

Scully moved quickly, turning around enemies and Curses, her robes flowing like a merciless dancer - she had had enough, she thought, as an Agent ran to her, ready to kill. She had had enough, she thought as she jumped high towards the Agent, and he was caught under an attack of opportunity when he froze for a moment, watching Scully turn into a huge golden eagle in mid-air, her wingspan bigger than his own height. It was too late for him to raise his wand to defend himself when she flew straight to his face with her talons and beak ready. A moment later, the eagle had turned into Dana Scully again, running and dodging the P. C. Agents with a small stain of blood on her face that wasn't hers.

The battle went on, and acting pretty much as the group's shield, Sam was able to see when Spender had just Apparated away from the room, as if he had nothing to do with any of it. As if he wasn't the one responsible for it, for her, and everything else that followed. The youngest Mulder saw him Apparating away, quick as the blink of an eye, but she was quicker than him - there was no chance he was leaving the facility just like that.

Among the bodies falling and offensive spells screams from both sides, Sam conjured and kept her shields up and moved the task to the back of her mind as she focused on a new one. She drank in four vials in a row and closed her eyes.

Using that boost of energy and not wasting any second, the sounds of the battle faded out as she focused on the minds of every single person in the building once more. She saw there were very, very few Agents and very few Abductees remaining as Skinner and his team had been performing their part very effectively in the meantime.

She mentalized her goal with all of her will and magical power.

 _Find Spender._

 _Find._

 _Spender._

The words floated in her head as her pupils got brighter and brighter under her lids.

 _Find Spender._

 _Stop Spender._

 _Stop him._

He could be C.G.B. Spender, the Cigarette Smoking Man and the head behind everything in that place and behind her now boiling magic, but he was still unable to Apparate straight outside the building like anyone else. With the main entrance blocked by Skinner and the other Aurors and volunteers, he was heading for a hidden emergency escape route in the undergrounds.

Sam was able to learn all of this as she found the shining mind she knew was the one she was looking for, before she locked her own mind in his'. Like a furious guard dog that bites and won't let go - and she wouldn't let go for anything in this world. She was out of her mind, literally and metaphorically speaking, when she dove straight and fully into the man's mind using all the might of her power she had been saving inside of her due to the fear of hurting her friends, or herself.

This time, however, her magic found no boundaries.

His Occlumency skills were good, like Scully's months before when she told Sam to dive into the shores of her mind and the Healer was able to control what Sam could and couldn't see. But unlike then, Sam now had training and much more control over herself, and most of all, she had the stamina and her own, personal will to do it.

A torrent of memories and feelings that weren't hers filled her mind for a moment, and she panicked - the sensation of having her mind invaded triggered all of her fight-and-run senses.

She felt horrified by the feeling, but she stood her ground as hard as she could, battling against the primal fear with her sense of duty of stopping him - she stood there and saw Spender's first fall from a broom, and the face of his first crush and the face of his son as a baby. She saw her own parents, still young and holding Fox as an infant, and a group of well-groomed men in a room of dark wooden walls and furniture **-** she saw her father's face among those men, but she would only understand what that meant much, much later.

She had a glimpse of how Star Elves looked like - poor little, gray creatures being cut open as they screamed in agony. There was Monica Reyes, looking a lot younger and eyes with much less darkness in them, looking at her - looking at Spender.

She let out a cry of dismay when the memory of Reyes faded into a defenseless Dana Scully laying down in one of the rooms of the Purity Control, shivering with cold as the Agents took her blood away from her, her lungs trying to breath in but unable to due to the lack of oxygen during the transition from real blood to Blood-potion. Scully looked pale and thin and nothing like the Healer-Auror and friend she knew. With a string of blue smoke before her eyes, and the feeling she had a smile on her face - Spender smiling in his own memory - the image of Scully faded away.

She witnessed killings in those labs, lots of them, through the eyes of the Cigarette Smoking Man.

Young and older men and women. There were children. Sam saw as he watched experiments through the blue curtain of smoke and she saw herself as a little girl, a fierce little thing that Agents could not control and Spender commanded them to Cruciatus her for once. She saw herself as a teen, as an adult, seeing her tests from his perspective and she felt like screaming.

Meanwhile, outside Sam's mind, the battle was over, her protection still on. Her brother and friends gathered around her, puzzled and unable to get close to her due to the strong shield around them and herself.

"What is going on…?", Mulder formulated the question, but not really able to finish it, as he looked back to Scully, as he always did whenever he had no answers or theories on him. The Healer got as close as possible to Sam, as Reyes, Byers and Langly guarded their backs in case any other Agents came in. Scully saw the trance-like state the youngest Mulder was in, her bright pupils moving from one side to another underneath her eyelids, like falling stars in the sky. Sam held her hands up, as if frozen mid-casting a spell.

"I-I am not really sure, Mulder.", Scully answered him, uncertain.

She then looked around the fallen bodies all over the place, her practical mind still in battle mode and not yet able to feel sorry for them or guilty for what she had done. Her glassy eyes darted through the dead Agents, and the only face she was able to recognize was Krycek's. In the commotion caused by the duels she was hopeful someone else had gotten Spender, since he didn't cross her way as she fought the Agents, but apparently he was somehow able to escape. Before she had even time to let out a frustrated sigh, there was Lumos inside her head. She looked back at Mulder, a new expression on her face.

"Sam is looking for Spender."

Reyes briefly looked back at her, a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean?"

"Spender ran away. I thought one of you had him in the duel, but I don't see him here.", the Healer-Auror explained, quickly. "I think Sam is looking for him through her Legilimency skills, tracking him down."

"I'm not sure how I feel about this.", Mulder added, restless. He was unable to get close to her, and his sister seemed frozen in place, apart from her pupils moving ablaze, and her expression - she was clearly very upset, but no sound would come from her lips.

Back into the locked minds of the girl that had escaped and the Smoking Man's, Sam had to see many of Spender's memories of herself under his point of view before realizing what he was actually doing. He was stuck wherever he was because she was holding him down like a sharp arrow that had pierced him right in the chest - he couldn't stop her from coming into his head or from containing him because she was much more powerful than he was, but he was definitely controlling everything she was seeing.

It took only a moment of Sam's realization before she started to scream in raw, pure rage at him.

She was done with it, she was tired and incredibly, massively angry. He was the responsible for her missing childhood, her compromised health and all the nightmares in her mind. Her scream echoed into his memories, right into his very mind, piercing them, and that gallery of horrors and images began to shatter before her eyes.

The first to go were his memories of her, all of them. And then, his memories of the experiments, of Scully being hurt, of the young Monica Reyes, of the little E753 girl's conceiving in a glass tube. His family, his son, his influence, everything.

With a final, long shattering sound, Sam looked around and saw only a vast blackness and silence where she stood, alone.

Back to her own mind, Sam opened her eyes, breathing in hard and deep as if she had been diving in an underwater cave. Her power faltered and all of her shields vanished in the air. Her knees had no strength to keep her up and she would have collapsed straight to the dark, purple tiled floor, if there weren't many pairs of hands immediately holding her up and supporting her body.

She felt herself being tilted backwards in someone's arms and the sweet taste of her energy solution ran down her throat. When she had absorbed energy enough to open her eyes again and actually focus her sight, she saw her brother held her up against him, looking down at her with the same scared faces Scully, Reyes and the Wanderers also had, their heads all around Mulder's from her point of view.

"He is gone.", Sam said with a weak voice, but clearly regaining her strength.

"That's okay, Sammy.", Scully said gently, knelt by her side, calling her by that pet name for the very first time. "We will get him, eventually. He won't be able to hide for too long..."

"N-no, that's not what I meant.", Sam replied, feeling she was able to sit down on her own, slowly. Mulder kept his arm around her, just in case. "He's still in the building. He was about to access the underground, where the vessels and artifacts are, there is an escape route hidden in there."

"So we still can get him! Tell us where he was last seen and we will get him.", Reyes said.

"You don't understand.", Sam looked at her friends, trying to organize her still confused mind, overwhelmed with her extreme use of magical power and loaded up with knowledge and memories that were not hers. "He is nothing but an empty shell now."

Mulder and Scully and the others exchanged a glance that could be read as worry, or even a hint of fear.

Sam was able to see that, but she only looked back at them, firm and remorseless.

After Sam was back on her feet again, they contacted Skinner through the notebook to ask how things were going on his side, and explaining shortly what had just happened. His answer came in a matter of seconds.

 _All is under control._

 _We've contained the entire staff and we're now rescuing the abductees. The entrance room is available for you to leave, if you want._

Now that the secret area had been mapped out and they all had seen the way, they sent the Wanderers and the child back through Apparition.

Before they left, Scully came closer to Frohike, who held the child - who now they knew, was a little girl - still unconscious in his arms, and quickly checked on her. She seemed to be in a kind of coma, which was really bad, and considering the circumstances, the Healer wasn't really keen on the idea of leaving her. But her job there wasn't over yet, and she knew that wouldn't take much longer. She caressed the little girl's forehead for a moment, her still face partially covered by her long hair, and looked at Frohike. He just nodded, replying in a serious voice.

"We will keep an eye on her ourselves, Miss Scully. Don't worry."

"Thank you."

"At your service, M-woman.", Langly replied before they all Apparated away.

She then turned to Mulder, Sam and Reyes, who were just waiting for her. Everyone gently held on Sam's arm or shoulder and she Apparated the group away to the place where the Smoking Man would be.

He was actually laying right where Sam had gotten him.

He was there, breathing well and alive, but he was definitely different. He held a vague, blank expression on him like very young babies have, and just like one, he had a string of drool running down his chin. It was a bizarre sight: all the dark quirkiness and eyes of someone who had seen many things in his life, and many of them used on his own advantage, all of that wasn't there anymore.

The man who had raised an empire founded on hate, blood and secrets, wasn't there anymore.

C. G. B. Spender was gone, forever.


	17. E753

The apprehension of Spender took literally seconds - there wasn't even the need to contain him, so meek and un-harmful he had become. Monica had to Levitate him because, along his entire identity, he also had forgotten the skill to walk. When they all Apparated back to the Arrival room, Skinner was still coordinating the arresting of the remaining P. C. Agents and the rescue of the abductees still trapped in the facility.

The arrested Agents would face an investigation and, eventually, a very long trial and hopefully, an even longer time in Azkaban; the abductees would be taken to St. Mungus and Muggle hospitals to undergo healing treatments for both their bodies and minds and they would have their families contacted. The Assistant Director could already feel in his bones all the nights he would definitely spent awake on the following weeks just to make sure the investigation would have a satisfactory end and all the victims would finally find justice.

However, he already could have a little taste of it, as he could not contain a small satisfaction smile when he saw what was left of Spender after going through the greatest Memory Charm of the century - there was no history of someone that was able to erase someone's mind _entirely_ , the same way Samantha Mulder had just done. It was equal parts of impressive and terrifying that she was able to do that, but Skinner trusted she was in good hands. He delivered the former Smoking Man to Alastor Moody to personally take to the prison wing of the St. Mungus immediately.

Then, he turned to Sam.

"If you ever think of becoming an Auror or an Unspeakable, you will have all of the support from me and the Department of Mysteries."

"Ah… Hum… Thank you, sir.", she replied, not really knowing how to react under such invitation.

Then, it fell on her like a bright falling star - _she was free._ She was completely, ultimately free.

The P.C. was over and no one would ever chase her down in a cold, snowy woods ever again. No one would ever take over her and hurt her and make insane experiments on her body. She was free. _She was free._ The feeling was so overwhelming, she thought she would cry. However, she managed to keep it to herself, for now, not really wanting to go all emotional around a bunch of strangers.

Skinner had turned to Mulder, Scully and Reyes.

"Thank you for all of this. Thank you all.", he added, nodding at the trio of Aurors he had seen grow up from spunky children to adults marked by battles and unspeakable pain. He had no children himself, but if he did, he wished they were as brave and righteous as his former students who finally finished the investigations he had started himself fifteen years before. The thought made him smile at them with pride.

"Thank you for everything you've done, Aurors. And specially you, Auror Reyes."

The latest years had been a nightmare on its own for Monica, but he knew if she had been offered the choice to go back and actually choose what to do, she would have picked the exact, same choice she did seven years before, when she entered Skinner's office, still a young Auror.

At the final hour of the Purity Control facility, Sam, the Special Aurors, their boss and his team of volunteers evacuated the entire building and collected everything they could to use as evidence in the formal investigation - they took pictures, documents, books, collected the P.C.'s pictures of Star Elves and even a small jar containing one of them, conserved in a weird, bright orange potion.

"I wonder if there are any _living_ Star Elves hidden under some other Secrecy Spells around here.", Mulder thought out loud as he held the jar in his hands.

"No, there aren't.", Sam answered, to his mild surprise on her certainty. "They didn't survive being dissected still being alive, and the Earth's atmosphere was overall bad for them."

Scully and Reyes exchanged a confused glance as Sam gathered other evidences in a bottomless bag for Skinner. It was the Healer-Auror who got it after a minute.

"It's the Spender's memories, isn't it? You now have them? _All_ of them?"

Sam stopped what she was doing to look at Scully.

"I don't know… but I had access to them when I got him."

"It's a little ironic you now have his knowledge to help end what he started.", Reyes pointed out, after a little pause.

"I think I am okay with that.", Sam answered, a little smirk on her lips. It wouldn't erase all the bad things she also knew of, but that was a positive way to look at it.

When they got to the underground area where the artifacts were kept, they saw the endless warehouse that contained a myriad of alien vessels - round, triangular, small as a phone booths, or as big as houses. Some of them intact, but most of them were half smashed on their fall on Earth. All of them had small bronze plaques next to them, telling where and when they were found, and by whom.

Down there, dwarfed by the vessel that had started everything - the Tunguska vessel itself, fallen in 1947 -, a decision was made. There was no need of a very long talk to get to the feeling everyone was experiencing that moment.

"I don't know about you, but I am torn here on what we should do.", Mulder said, looking at the Tunguska original ship. "On one hand, I want to take all of this and study everything. On the other, I think that would be incredibly stupid to do."

"Because other people could misuse them again?", Scully asked.

"Yeah. Not sure if I want a Purity Control Number 2." The thought sent him chills down his spine. He didn't want other Samanthas or other Scullys or anyone else for that matter.

"But this is a historical discovery, the Space Division would be thrilled with all of this they had been denied for decades.", Scully pointed out. "It's not really up to us to decide over the entire Wizarding World and scholars community."

"I know that." Mulder said. "I just… don't think we should.", He wasn't believing he was saying that, after pretty much his entire life of searching for what was literally right in front of him, not really wanting to have anything to do with that anymore. He had his sister back, the Facility was being shut for good. Aside from some personal, technical curiosity about it, he felt his quest had truly ended.

"I am sorry Mulder, but this isn't really up for debate. Even though I understand what you mean, I have to agree with Scully. Not to mention, this is also evidence of the crimes committed here.", Skinner said. "However..."

He seemed thoughtful.

"What is it, sir?", Mulder asked.

"I wouldn't trust anyone else other than you to handle these things. Would you want that? The M-Files to be fully in charge of and studying these artifacts?"

Mulder and Scully exchanged a look of uncertainty - Mulder was still not as thrilled about it as he would probably be if it was a couple of years before, and Scully's scientist side was intrigued with the possibilities, but she was also feeling crushed with the responsibility of such task.

With a silent nod to each other, the Healer turned to her boss.

"If we are taking this back, we would rather to take care of it ourselves, then."

"I was kinda hoping you would answer that. As I said, I wouldn't trust anyone else to handle them."

With the decision made, they all raised their wands - and hands - to reduce all the ships and artifacts to the size of coins. Skinner then waved his wand and Summoned all of the tiny vessels into a bag he conjured, shutting it close it with a Locking Spell.

"I will take them as evidence, and then I will give them to you.", the Assistant Director then quickly added, seeing their apprehensive expressions. "I will guard these with my life Aurors, don't worry."

Moments later at the feet of the Tunguska mountain, where the stars were still twinkling in the distant, cold sky above them, they all watched as the Purity Control facility imploded into countless shards and pieces, setting the mountain and the heavens ablaze in a huge, turquoise bonfire against the Russian night - technically, that was destruction of evidence, but not even Skinner, who had _just_ lectured them about evidences, wanted to risk leaving that place up any longer. He had enough pictures, documents and other evidences on him to prove what happened. He just wanted that place to end as much as everyone else.

Sam had already used a lot of her magic that night but she made sure she was the one to ignite it.

As the three Special Aurors, Sam, and Skinner watched the debris flying away and sparkling like falling stars, they felt the weight of an entire world made of suffering being taken away from their shoulders. That place was a curse, Monica had said earlier that night, and even erased from the map it had left scars on each and every one of them in many degrees, both visible and invisible.

Their duty there was done.

In the darkness, illuminated by the teal and green flames still going, they turned back and Portkeyed away to their respective destinations, the Secrecy barrier now gone along with the entire Purity Control facility and the people behind it.

Back to the Wanderers' headquarters, the house felt different: welcoming and strangely normal after deadly duels and grim revelations they all had to face that night. The four of them - the Special Aurors and Sam - went straight to the training room where Scully knew the Wanderers would have improvised an infirmary again, this time for the little girl known as " _Subject E753_ ".

She was laid in a hospital-like bed, waiting for the Healer's arrival. The group entered the room and the Healer quickly got closer to the bed, and for the first time she had a full view of the girl's face, now uncovered by her long hair.

A shiver went down Scully's spine - the tiny face she was seeing before her, was one she already knew.

Upstairs, hanging on her bedroom's wall, there was a picture that featured herself and her sister as toddlers, and the child before her was twin-identical to Melissa Scully when she was just three years old. If Scully needed more evidences other than the fact the child was talking to her through her dreams for months and the revelation from Smoking Man's own lips, that would be it. The Healer shook her head, trying not to dwell in it - not, yet.

She looked at the child and not really knowing what to do, she tried the first thing that came to her.

 _I am here now.,_ Scully said, opening her mind for the little girl like she had done to Mulder countless times. There was no answer.

She quickly took out her Healer's Pouch and opened it with her wand, ready to search what exactly was wrong with her. But the first thing she did was to give the girl an IV of Anti-Dehydration, magically hanging it in the air above the bed frame. Then she took her red camera out to get the See-Through pictures of the child, which made her feel a strange deja vu from months before, when she had done the same thing to Sam, back then, still scared and suspecting every move she did. It felt like it had happened in another life altogether.

 _I… I am sorry I didn't come to help you before tonight, I had no idea… I am so, so sorry._ There was still no answer.

"Frohike, Langly, please, develop these for me. I need them as fast as you can. You know what to do.", she asked them.

"We will be right back, Miss Scully.", Langly answered, as the other Wanderer got the object from her hands. She watched them leave for a second, worry on her face, afraid they were running out of time. She turned again to the girl.

 _Please, talk to me. Can you hear me? Can you understand me?_

Countless thoughts hit her as she instinctively performed her healing tests, while trying to talk to the child at the same time - was it possible that the little one went into some kind of shock after they broke the barrier that held her prisoner?

 _Are you still in there…?_

Maybe the barrier was there for reasons other than protection of the secret and containing of "the subject". All the Star Elf magic and the P. C. tampering was still a vast and unknown field to her, as a Healer and as an Auror for the M-Files.

 _Are you still in there…? Please, please be there... Just say something, anything… ,_ she said, her mindvoice imbued with fear the little girl wasn't listening anymore and her body was there merely as an empty shell. She stopped mid-test when she heard the distant, but definitely present sound of sleigh bells ringing in a long, echoing manner. She felt her heart leap.

 _Don't give up, honey. We are here to help you. Don't give up.,_ the Healer reassured her, and she heard it again, this time clearer, but only slightly.

 _Good! Good, you are doing great. Please, honey, keep talking to me. You sent messages from so far away, and I am right here with you, now._ The little girl rang twice as an answer, slowly as if she was tired, but still there, listening.

Scully looked to the others, who were just there, apprehensively watching as she examined the little one, waiting for news.

"I… established some kind of communication with her. Through Legilimency.", she explained. Her friends all widened their eyes, uncrossed their arms or leaned closer, in surprise and expectation.

"What is she saying?", Reyes asked.

"It's… hard to tell. I don't know, really. Now that I am really thinking about it, she had never used words, only images and that sound of bells, which is the one form of communication she is using right now."

The Healer quickly explained what she had been doing as she examined the little girl and how the bells sounded, according to her interpretation.

"She looks like she is four or five, but she is no more that two, considering… considering my abduction. Maybe she doesn't know words _at all_." Scully's voice hesitated, the notion that they had used her genetic material to produce a child, and that child was somehow _related to her_ was still too raw and distant, for now. Everything about it was just insane, and she brushed such thoughts away once more - she had work to do and a life to save.

Apart from having Star Elf magic infused in her creation altogether, the little girl had another issue.

"She is also an Obscurial, remember?", Mulder said. "In a very early stage, but still one. Maybe that's also affecting her current condition?"

"I thought about that, too.", Scully answered. "If she is an Obscurial, it means she is at least partially aware of what's happening around her and to her - Obscurus only happen if the child is magically repressed, and considering what the Purity Control had been doing, trying to make her use her powers and everything, that's very odd."

"She is repressing _herself_. Repressing her own magic, on her own.", Sam told them. Her brother and friends looked at her, waiting for her explanation, partially from her own experience, partially from glimpses of the memories she now carried with her. "See, I was aware of me all the time during the years of experiments, but I was already older when that happened, otherwise I would probably be an Obscurial too. Maybe she's been doing it to herself so they would stop the experiments."

Sam had also been feeling a connection to the child since she saw her color-changing mind, so odd against the others - it was recognition. Remembering what she had seen into Spender's mind and seeing this little girl now, she saw herself and how she once had been. And that connection was clear for everyone.

"If that's the case, that would be a rare occurrence where the Obscurial caused it to themselves without an outside agent repressing them _directly_.", Mulder added. "Also, the Obscurus is still very small, it's still on the early stages, so there might be a chance to reverse it with potions and a Magic Therapist. But she has to be conscious for that..."

"Exactly.", Scully agreed. "I'll see what shows up on the healing tests. I wish I could read her files too, if they are among the papers we got."

"We will help you to find and read them on your behalf, if you want", Byers offered. "I mean, we aren't Healers like you, but we can find things that might help explain what is causing this."

"Please, do it.", she replied. She would still have to read them herself but it would be good to have some kind of summary of what is happening, while she ran the healing tests.

From his robes, Mulder got the bottomless pouch they had used to store all the papers they got in the secret area and, conjuring one the tables from the main room into the infirmary, he turned its contents over it. There were tons of paper as usual, among annotations and official files.

Finding the child's main log was pretty easy: the thick purple file stood out against the rest and flipping through the first pages, they knew it was exactly what they were looking for. Mulder was sharing it between himself, Monica and Byers when Sam intervened.

"I want to help."

Mulder looked up at her, hesitating.

"I know.", she replied, not needing her brother to say anything. "But I can't sit here and _just watch_. I'll have a bad time reading this, I know I will, but it will be a lot worse if I don't… And I _really_ don't want to rely on and trust everything Spender had shown me in his mind. _Please,_ Fox."

He was worried to death about his sister's well being, but it was still her life and her decision to either do this or not. He looked down at the file and shared it again, this time in four parts and distributed among them.

 _I will be right here with you, Sammy. Be careful.,_ he told her with a gentle, encouraging mindvoice.

 _I know you are. Thanks, Buttmunch._ , she answered, trying to sound and to feel all the confidence she didn't have.

The four of them conjured chairs and each of them pulled their own share of reading closer to them and started to work, a strange deja vu passing through them. With a small gesture of her hand, Sam conjured a chocolate bar and a bowl of apples from the kitchen, feeling she would really need them for the task that laid before her.

Meanwhile, the Healer had been using the Malady Detector on the child, and was observing how little the quill was writing. It didn't take long for it finish the scanning. It wrote just a little, but it was enough for her to get very apprehensive nonetheless: _not responding to physical stimulation or reflexes. Comatose state. Organs at risk of failure. Severe anemia and blood issues. Severe deformity of blood cells._

Scully just put the Malady Detector's journal down and rubbed her face with both hands, worried and already feeling the cold hand of fear starting to grasp her, tightly. She was afraid that the rescue might have done more harm than good to her, and she worried for the first time that maybe burning down the facility had destroyed the child's chances of survival with it.

However, the Malady Detector mentioned problems that were probably happening for a while now, before they even got there, which meant they might have not caused anything on the little girl - but the possibility that they had made it worse was still there.

She pulled out her wand and cast the Monitor Spell on the girl. Right away, her vital signs and organ conditions were showing in luminous green numbers and graphics next to the conjured bed. The child's condition was strange and dangerous, but at least it didn't seem to be getting worse.

She wouldn't count it would be like that for too long.

From time to time, the Healer would hear the soft ring in the back of her mind, and that was the sign that the little one was still there, clinging to her life. The Healer wanted to set a constant communication, keep speaking to her as she worked so the child wouldn't feel like she was being ignored. It was almost instinctive when Scully started to half-recite, half-sing with her mindvoice the lines of a lullaby from the Magical side that Reyes had taught her, when they were still teens at school.

The words would come to her mind, and at the same time she wouldn't have to think of new things to keep saying, the repetition would hopefully soothe the little girl and maybe even herself.

 _Shine, bright morning light_

 _Now in the air the spring is coming_

She took a small sample of her blood, that was, unsurprisingly, deep green just like Sam's. Scully touched the glass vial with her wand to preserve it, wishing they had enough time to contact Pendrell to analyze it and compare it with her own blood, too. She felt her stomach turning violently when she thought of her dear friend, who was also involved in this web of secrets and suffering, against his will and not having a single memory of what he had actually done. How would she ever face him again, knowing what they did to him? How would she gather all the monumental strength necessary to tell him such terrible truth?

 _Sweet blowing wind_

 _Singing down the hills and valleys_

The Healer turned the little girl on her side and brushed her long hair away from her neck to perform the _Ganymede Revelaria_ and see if she was "registered" like other abductees. Her eyes widened. There was no Mark, but she found something else there - the little girl had a huge, black-green bruise on her neck, and some sort of injury that seemed infected and painful right in the middle of it.

Scully pulled her notebook out and wrote a message to Frohike and Langly.

 _Is the development going to take much longer?_

It was Langly who answered back:

Almost done.  
Is something like... really bad going on?

I'm still not sure.  
Please bring me the pictures immediately after you are done.

 _Fast like the flight of Icarus._

Scully put the notebook back in her pocket. She tried to perform some disinfection and cleansing spells on the injury, but nothing seemed to work.

Her expression darkened by worry, she turned the girl on her back again and examined the skin on her arms - there were no scars, like Sam did, nor marks of any kind. That meant they didn't have to take her blood out and put it back in like they had been doing, and that made sense - the girl was already born like that, with her DNA mingled with Star Elf material and magic, so there was no need to "convert" her human blood into hybrid. The little child's "voice" echoed in her mind again and Scully replied her, reciting the lines.

 _Keep your eyes on me_

 _Now we're on the edge of hell_

Like many lullabies and nursery rhymes, that one had a dark twist to it, but that didn't matter - the ringing in the shores of her mind became more frequent. Noticing how weak her ringing was compared to the sound she had been hearing in her dream-visions, or even in the facility earlier, it occurred to Scully that the little one might have used a huge share of her energy and power to send messages, and made a last effort to show her the Vision right before she opened the door. More than a feeling than an actual thought, Scully wished the girl would just hang on as they searched for a solution.

"Huh… Miss Scully. Can you come over here, please?"

She turned around, emerging from her thoughts, theories and nursery rhymes when she heard someone call her name. She went to the table where her friends were reading the logs.

"Did you find anything, Byers?", she answered, a hint of hope in her voice.

"Look. It was attached to the little girl's file… ", he answered, showing her the dark-emerald green file with the golden symbol of young Ganymede feeding the eagle, above an abductee number also written in golden ink - _D540_.

Mulder, Sam and Reyes had stopped to see what the Wanderer had found. They watched as Scully looked at the folder and Byers handed it to her. She didn't need to open it to know what was inside, but she did it anyway, her busy mind demanding evidence, to see it with her own eyes.

Flipping the file cover open, she saw it - the form containing her name and other personal information, and a picture of her face that seemed copied from her Auror form in the Ministry of Magic. She pursed her lips, the sight of her lost abductee file making her feelings conflict.

"I didn't read anything. I called you as soon as I saw it was yours...", Byers explained.

"Thanks.", she simply told him, and then added. "I am... glad and worried this finally showed up.", she shook her head slightly before looking around at her friends. "What have you found so far...?"

It was Mulder who answered her first.

"Seems her hm… _term_ … went normally, if anything in this can be called _normal_ , up to the third month. After that, the fetus developed way faster than what is considered average and she was… _born_ at the beginning of the seventh month on November 7, 1993, 50cm and 7.63 pounds."

Scully furrowed her brows, confused.

"That's the average length and weight of a baby that is born after a 40 weeks term. Hers was only two thirds of it."

"Exactly.", he replied.

Scully realized then that such information actually enlightened something regarding Sam - she had always questioned why the youngest Mulder was so tall when she had severe anemia and was so underdeveloped, physically speaking. The foreign magic imbued in her blood might have induced the growth spurt, but unlike the little girl, she wasn't born with such magic in her, so maybe it wasn't able to make her fully develop after a while, also for the lack of nutrients. That also finally explained their incredibly long hair, both Sam's and the child's.

"Why did you mentioned her birth and pregnancy in quotations like that?", Reyes inquired. "Please, don't tell me they used surrogates out of the abductee they had..?"

She looked like she was about to kill someone, if that was the case.

"Oh, no. _No._ ", Mulder answered, quickly. "The truth is even weirder and under that perspective, a lot _better_ in a way. Here. Look for yourselves."

He placed the file on the table's surface and turned it around, showing them the pictures attached to his part of the logs - clear as water, the images showcased all the stages of a developing fetus inside a large glass cylinder filled with a crystalline, greenish liquid. There was no sign of placenta or umbilical cord, just the fetus, and later on, the baby completely formed floating in there. They saw in one of the latest pictures that the child had no belly button.

No one really knew what to say about what they had just seen. It was all so unnatural and uncomfortable to see and learn about, but the outcome of those hideous experiments was there right before them, and she desperately needed their help.

As if coming out of a trance, Scully shook her head slightly, coming back to reality. She was feeling inside her a new question forming about her connection to the child. But she didn't ask it - besides the fact there were more pressing issues at the moment, she didn't want to have that kind discussion in front of everyone, so Scully kept the question for later and simply carried on with her healing investigation.

"What else did you find?"

"They wanted to place her with foster parents at some point, it seems. To make her socialize and live normally.", Reyes told them.

"Yes, I got the last part and that is also mentioned in here.", Sam answered, pointing at her share of the file, scattered around her in an organized-mess. Under the table, her left leg was shaking up and down, furiously. "They wanted to get her a family as soon as possible, but her health, that was on its peak around January this year, started to go down really fast. She used to be awake and interact with the Agents, like, they would talk to her and she understood them, but she never spoke back. She got to this condition she is now a month ago."

"At the same time I am relieved to know we didn't cause this to her, it scares me. If the Purity Control wasn't able to revert this, will _we_ be able to?", Mulder inquired.

Sam was about to add something else she had read in the reports, when suddenly both Langly and Frohike came into the infirmary with the See-Through pictures all developed and ready.

"Here they are.", Frohike said, handing it to Scully. "We tried to be quicker, but you know how delicate the process is."

"No, you did a great job, boys.", the Healer replied. "Let me see this."

They all gathered around her as she flipped through the pictures, zoomed them in and out with her fingers. Through many angles, she examined at the strange injury on her neck, from the inside. Her expression darkened, and with a double tap on the image, she changed the picture to the layer that showed her nervous system and that's when she had a full grasp of the situation.

"What is it?", Frohike asked, noticing how her reaction was far from being positive.

"There's a strange tissue coming from an injury on her neck I've seen just now, while examining her. It is branching from her neck and pretty much coiling around her entire nervous system and organs. See?"

The Healer showed them, pointing out the formation that looked like dark branches of a dead tree running down inside her body.

"I was about to tell you, when Langly and Frohike arrived. This… thing is also mentioned in the logs, but the P.C. didn't know what was it. It started to grow around January, when I said her health started to go down.", Sam explained. She then looked again at the pictures in the Healer's hands with a horrified look in her eyes. "What is this thing, Miss Scully …?"

"I… I have no idea, either.", the Healer answered, rubbing her forehead in exasperation. "This looks like what Muggles call cancer - the Poison Ivy Disease, it is like a strange formation of cells, growing and strangling her nervous system. In any event… this is what is happening to her, this is why she is in unconscious. This is… this is killing her."

The little girl's "voice" had been ringing for her from time to time up to that moment, but Scully had just noticed she went quiet because she had stopped answering, caught up in her investigation and keeping the emotional turmoil rising up inside her from being unleashed.

She started to gently recite the lullaby with her mindvoice again and then looked at Mulder, deeply worried - she always had all the answers, always had a solution, and now she had none in an event her healing and scientific knowledge could literally be vital. Could it be the physical manifestation of the Obscurus inside her, would an Obscurus so small be able to do this? Or was it something else, altogether? Again, she had no answers for those questions.

When she looked at him, seeming so lost, Mulder didn't talk to her through Legilimency for he didn't want to overload her mind with yet another task, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, trying to give her some kind of support.

The Wanderers, Reyes and Sam just stood there, unable to say anything after the Healer's diagnosis - they wanted to help and didn't know how, and all they knew was that the child, oddly connected to Scully, had little to no chances of survival. The powerlessness fell over the entire group like a heavy fist of iron and the hopes ran through their fingers like fine sand.

In Scully's mind, the girl restarted her ringing, as if she was humming along.

 _Keep your eyes on me_

 _Now we're on the edge of hell_

Mulder looked at their situation once more, at Scully's position in all of that - the child was at high risk of perishing right after they had finally rescued her, after months of her basically sending out messages in bottles, seeking for help to the closest person she somehow knew would care about her.

How the girl knew who to reach for, and how she actually did all of that, was a mystery on its own.

But then, he also thought of the connection that had literally saved Sam's sanity for years and that had finally help her break free from her captors - how did _he_ do it? How was he able to keep calling for her during years and years, without knowing he was doing it at all? Could it be some kind of unknown, Deep Magic? He had a connection to Sam, and Scully had a connection to the girl. Would that be the answer to that one question? And the answer to save that little girl, would _that_ ever come to the surface?

By his side, under his arm around her shoulders, Scully shifted her weight from one foot to another, her arms crossed against her chest like a shield. She was lost in her own head, sorting in her mind all kinds of tasks and feelings she didn't even know existed. She analyzed once more what was the problem and what the solution could be. She never thought she would ever have to resort to that, but with everything exposed under the bright light of logic and science and magic, she had no other option. There was no other option at all. The girl chimed along with her lines, slowly, as Scully rhythmically recited the words.

 _Dear my love, sweet morning light_

 _Wait for me, you've gone much further - too far_

Mulder noticed Scully restlessness as she brought her hand to her chin and over her mouth, thinking hard. He was unable to ask her through Legilimency what was going on, but he didn't have to wait much longer to know what have been going through her head in that silent moment.

"I don't have the answer to what is this… thing taking over her body... and maybe we never will. But I… I think I know of a solution. A definitive one.", she told her friends who were standing around her.

"What do you mean by 'definitive'…?", Monica asked, unsure. Maybe having Scully taking care of such a difficult, personal task wasn't the best idea and she was afraid her friend was about to suggest something she would never expect from the Healer.

"It's not what you think!", Scully said, a little angry. But in the context they were, she would have probably have thought the exact same thing, if the roles were reversed. "What I mean is that there is someone that might help her. But I have to go to them first."

"Are you sure they can be of any help, Miss Scully?", Byers asked. "I… I really don't want to be insensitive, but even the Purity Control didn't know what to do…"

"Yes, I am sure.", she replied, her voice coming out a little blunt. She then added, "Look... I am really sorry I can't give any details, I promised to never tell about this to anyone, and unless I have permission, I intend to keep it that way."

"We understand it.", Langly said.

Turning to Mulder, she said, "I need you to come with me."

What would sound like almost a command to anyone, sounded to Mulder more like the plea for help it actually was - she literally _needed him_ with her and he knew her too well not to get the hint.

"Of course, Scully. Are we going right now?"

"Yes. The child seem to be stable, even with her dangerous condition, and we won't take too long..."

She walked back to the child again and caressed her forehead - as if contradicting what she had just said, the girl had a major fever under the Healer' touch, a fever that wasn't there before. She looked at the luminous monitor by the bed. They had to hurry. She interrupted the nursery rhyme.

 _Listen, honey. I will get you help. I will be right back._ The answer came through the bells, slow and long. They sounded sad and not really okay with the situation.

 _I will be right back,_ Scully reassured, _here, I will be with you all the time.,_ she added, taking off her golden cross and medal and placing it inside the child's tiny hand, closing it gently around it. Linking her mind to the little girl's, she repeated the verses she had been reciting to her, writing them down on the white sand of the shores of her mind so she wouldn't feel alone while she was away.

Scully fully recited it, singing the lullaby in the cool night air that was that young mind. She heard the bells trying to follow it, she slowed it down a little. It was a short verse, so Scully recited it, repeated it and repeated it once more. She stopped, but the rhythm reverberated in that young mind, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"I'll be right back.", Scully repeated, this time out loud. She went back to Mulder's side and they conjured their cloaks. Sam wished them good luck.

"We will watch over her, do what you have to do and don't worry. If anything happens, we will write.", Frohike said, solemn, as he raised his wand and opened the house for them to leave.

Scully conjured an empty glass vial from her pouch and turned it into a Portkey timed to leave in just a moment. She and Mulder held it and in only thirty seconds, they felt the strange pull in their bellies and darkness enveloped the Aurors.

Their arrival in the residential area was hidden by the dark night and the cold weather, which prevented anyone from being outside, if the fact it was still the middle of the night wasn't a good reason already. She guided her partner down the sloped street, their pointy shoes echoing in the chilly air. Looking up, Mulder saw the shadow of snowy mountains, like giant ghosts so close to the urban area. He recognized that place, but made no questions yet.

"Mulder… I need to know.", she started, her low voice seeming loud in the innocent silence of that town. "Did it mention how was her conception performed…?"

He didn't need a more detailed question to understand what she meant with it. Now they were alone, she had to ask it. She needed to know - was the child made from genetic material, like a clone, or was she conceived from her ova, _like a daughter_?

By Mulder's expression towards her question, she knew what was coming.

"Yes. Hum… They… They collected your reproductive cells and genetic material, as they did to all of the abductees, and… they… they used the first... to conceive the child."

She just kept walking, as silent as the night around them.

"There was no 'father' involved.", he quickly added. "They manipulated Star Elf DNA and their magic, with the help of both Magical and Muggle knowledge of artificial fertilization to do it. That's where your friend Sean came into the picture, under Imperius."

He stopped walking and gently held her shoulder, making her stop as well and turn to look at him.

"Look… Scully… I am so sorry. They had no right to do any of this…"

She wasn't looking at him, she was looking sideways, her face pale and frozen, without expression. He stepped forward and wrapped her in a warm, comforting embrace, her face against his chest as he caressed her hair. Soon, he felt her arms hold him back tightly.

She didn't shed a single tear - but he did. How couldn't he? The fact she was shattered to the point of no reaction, the horrors they had done to her, the situation she was in with that little girl and the impossibility to do anything just broke his heart.

They just stood there, with him holding her with all the love he could offer to her in that difficult moment. After a while, she gently pulled him back. She looked up at him with sadness, noticing he had silent tears in his eyes. She pressed her half-gloved hand against his cheek. When she spoke, her voice was breaking, as she made the herculean effort not to break, herself.

"We have to do what we came here for."

"Yes... yes, you are right.", he agreed, wiping his tears away from his eyes, knowing that keeping her body and mind in motion would also be the best thing to do at that moment.

They started to walk down the street again.

"Who is this we are asking for help...?"

"You will see soon.", Scully answered, cryptic.

By the end of the street, he knew the house they were heading to, now dark for everyone was probably still sleeping, and all of that made him even more confused.

For the first time that night, he felt skepticism cloud his mind.

Was Scully actually starting to lose it, due to the gravity of the situation?, he thought to himself, as they climbed the steps to the front door and ringed the doorbell. It didn't take long for the lights inside the house go on and someone open the front door, wearing a warm robe and a very puzzled expression.

"Dana? Fox? What are you doing here so late, is everything alright?", the older lady asked.

"I am sorry, mum. We are okay, but this is an emergency. I need to speak to Kevin."

* * *

 **AUTHOR's NOTES:**  
 _I borrowed the Magic-side lullaby from Kajiura Yuki's "Fake Wings"_ _watch?v=LL-IuljULJ4_

 _It's such a beautiful, yet sad song, and it made me think so much of Scully's situation with the "E753" little girl that I just couldn't resist_

 _not including it in the actual story somehow. I hope you like it as much as I do!_


	18. One of the Seven

_[eight months prior - August 3rd, 1995]_

Sheltered from the sun under the parasol attached to the table, they were still midway with their ice cream - strawberries and pineapple for him and cream and mint chocolate for her, both decorated with different syrups and colorful candies. The best part was that they could take all the time they wanted with them, talking and hanging out, because the ice cream would never melt in the hot summer day.

She was just explaining him everything about her own wand. The little boy was listening with great interest as she showed it to him in detail, holding it between her fingers as she spoke. It had a wiggly shape and the varnished wood was light in color - it was a very pretty wand.

"You see, it is made out of willow, which enhances my healing powers and makes it easier for me to perform nonverbal spells. On the other hand, the dragon core allows me great power in both offensive and defensive spells. But they also have downsides: the willow has its own pace to learn, and the dragon makes it prone to accidents. They complement each other, in this unexpected combination of elements."

"That's _so cool_!", Kevin said, excited about this entire new world of magic unfolding in front of him just like it was to the Pevensie kids in _Narnia_ or to Mildred Hubble in _The Worst Witch_. "Mr Ollivander said my wand was 'odd' and 'intriguing'. What did he mean?"

"Your wand," Scully said, gesturing with her hand and making the boy's brand new wand come out of its box and float to her fingers. "it has a very hard-to-tame mix of elements, phoenix and elder wood - the phoenix is almost self-aware, and sometimes even makes its own decisions, which can be a little annoying; elder is a wood that apparently is hard to learn with, and that's why it is a little rare to see around. At the same time, it is a powerful combination for a great range of spells and great power. It might take a little for your wand to get used to you and become your ally, but I know you can do it, honey."

The boy seemed a little intimidated by such prospect but he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he made another question.

"Does everyone has to learn everything about wands like that?"

"Oh no, not really. I was just extremely curious about everything magical, after I learned I was a witch. So I read a lot about it, I thought it would be nice to know. And in fact I think it is very interesting, how we interact with our wands and vice-versa according to its elements, and how it can even tell a little about its master."

The boy seemed a little sad over her last sentence.

"What is it, honey?", Scully asked, intrigued by his reaction.

He looked at her, unsure of what to say.

"If that's true, then it means I am difficult for everyone else to be with. It must be true, because of what happened..."

"Oh, Kevin.", she said, leaning closer and caressing his hair in affection. "That's not true. What happened to you before had nothing to do with you or how you affect people. What happened were terrible events, yes, but not caused or induced by you in any way."

"But he came after me, because of how I am.", the boy said, looking at her with sadness.

"Yes, he did. And it still makes it all his fault, not yours. None of it was your fault."

He still didn't look entirely convinced, but he seemed a little bit comforted by her words. The guilt he felt that he was responsible for the death of his first mother would always be there in the back of his mind and Scully was fully aware of that. So she would always make sure to quell such thoughts dwelling in the mind of her son.

"Let's talk about something else? Please?", the boy asked.

"Of course, honey.", she said, sliding his half-eaten ice cream a little closer to him, trying to cheer him up. He took the decorated silver spoon that was resting inside the tall glass and ate a little. She then asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

He seemed to think for a second or two, chewing on the ice cream before remembering something he had been wanting to ask when she was still talking about their wands.

"How was it for you, finding out you were a witch?", he inquired. "Like… I only found out when I met you and Mulder. I mean… I noticed strange stuff happened. Like me 'teleporting' myself from one place to another but I only knew what I was after we met."

"I also moved objects, set things on fire by accident, did things that couldn't be explained.", she answered, having some of her own ice cream. "I kept it a secret, unless I accidentally did it in front of one of my siblings, but they always thought - or convinced themselves - they were just seeing things that weren't there."

Kevin looked at her, understanding.

"I didn't tell anyone either, no one would believe me. Even with the… hm. Bleeding hands and all." the wounds have stopped to show up since his adoptive mother had saved him, back in June. He still felt very uncomfortable to mention them. "That's why you didn't tell anyone about it? Because people would think you were crazy or something?"

"It is one of the reasons, yes. But I was specially afraid because… well, scary nuns at the Muggle school I was attending then would always say in catechism witchcraft was 'evil'... I didn't want to be evil."

The boy turned from her to the street before them, the Diagonal Alley swarming with people as it usually was in that time of the year in special, for school year would start next month and many parents and their kids were there to buy supplies and new uniforms before catching the train to Hogwarts in September. Kevin frowned and looked at her again.

"Having magic doesn't make you evil. You aren't evil. The man that got me, he was.", he said, a little mad at the implication Scully would be considered a bad person by some only for having magical powers.

She smiled at him, touched by his straightforward way of seeing things, and by the way he saw her through his child's eyes. She had never been someone that would open up easily, but she was trying to change that and that seemed the right to do. She decided to continue the story.

"There is something I've never told anyone. Not even my siblings know this, it is kind of a secret I have." she started. Kevin looked at her, intrigued. "You see, I was around your age when a strange letter arrived to me, telling I was enrolled in a ' _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ ', featuring a full list of materials I should get, where I should catch the train, and even the pets I was allowed to have. At first I rolled my eyes thinking it was a prank from Bill, as a very elaborated way to insult me by calling me a witch. I torn it apart and threw it away. Then, more letters arrived. Another one, another one, then two, three, four at the same time. I confronted Bill and he said he was not doing anything. Bill would always tease and annoy me but that time, for some reason, I believed him. I think I already knew of what I was, but I wasn't fully aware of it, yet. I was in a strange denial - I knew I made strange things happen without a logical explanation, but I would not admit them to myself."

Kevin looked at her with eyes full of interest at her story.

"One day, I saw a huge, dark brown owl land on my window, throw inside five letters at once, all addressed to ' _Dana Katherine Scully, Second Room To The Left_ ' and leave with an angry click of its beak. That's when I knew it was no deed of an annoying brother, that it was _real_. I panicked. For a while I was able to hide the letters, but soon the house was flooding with them so of course, my parents eventually found out."

Kevin's eyes widened.

"And what happened next?"

"I thought it would be the end of me. My father called me and he and my mother were waiting for me, sitting at the dinner table looking serious and holding one of the letters in his hand. I remember starting to cry because I was so afraid."

Kevin knitted his thin eyebrows, feeling sorry for her even though it had happened so long ago. He tried to imagine Scully, who didn't bat an eyelash in the face of danger to save him months before, as a scared little girl, and it was hard to believe that had actually happened once.

"What did they say? Were your parents mad at you?"

The Healer turned to look at him with a little smile.

"No. They looked at each other, not really understanding why I was so upset, and they told me to come closer. My father sat me on his knees and asked what was wrong. I explained to them, that I was afraid they would hate me for being the way I was, that they would never want a daughter like me… 'dealing with witchcraft', 'evil' like the nuns said. My mum wiped away my tears and said I was being silly, that they would never hate me. I told them about my powers and they replied they already knew, somehow - for seeing me perform magic as a very young baby moving toys around, or even as an older child without me realizing they were watching. They would always convince themselves it was just their imagination, that it wasn't true. But seeing piles and piles of those letters waiting for them by the front and back doors and even in the fireplace, somehow made all sense. I asked them about what what I heard in catechism, that 'witchcraft is bad'. My father looked at me and asked me if I ever intended to or wanted to hurt people. I said 'no, of course not'. He replied that then everything would be okay and I, and apparently other people, were born like this for a reason. And as a member of the British Navy, he was aware that training and discipline were important, specially with things that have potential to be dangerous."

"Wow. So they were okay to let you attend a school of magic?"

"Yes. The teacher of Defense Against Dark Arts back then, he came to our house days later to tell us everything about the Magical side, about Muggles, about Hogwarts and how things would have to be done from that moment on. He had to Transfigure his teacup into a canary to prove my brothers he was being serious and that yes, all of that was happening. On the other hand, Melissa was thrilled to have a witch sister.", Scully chuckled. "You see, I was raised a Catholic and it says witchcraft is bad. But there are lots of non-magic people that do bad deeds. And lots of magical people that do good deeds, that save and heal people, and the way other around. Being magical or not, these are just different sides of human nature."

After that, they finished their ice creams and went back home, with Kevin seeming thoughtful as he reflected about her story on the way back. His reaction intrigued Scully a little, but she let him be, thinking it had just impacted him somehow. That was true, but she learned the reasons why only later.

 _[seven months prior - September 15th, 1995]_

She watched as the little boy walked on the edge of the sidewalk, his arms stretched out like little wings to balance himself.

The trees in the park were starting to transition to its vivid orange and to shed their leaves. She was wearing her most Muggle-looking cloak to blend in, not really wanting to fully dress as one - she always felt odd and out of place whenever she tried to. That feeling was useful however, whenever they had to work in cases where Muggles were involved and Mulder and she had to pass as their police. She could pretend she was someone else altogether and that out-of-place-ness usually helped her on that.

The sun was about to set, so they still had some time for a stroll before it got dark. Scully was determined to spend time with her son, and bond with him even further. Remembering the case where he was involved back in the end of June, she could easily see why he had liked her right away, and after his first mother's death, he had clinged to her like a newborn kitten, seeking her protection and affection. At first, she thought he was just looking for his mother in her, and that could be the case at the beginning, but she was soon able to see he wanted her to be his second mother, and not a substitute for his first one, which was good - Scully had no intentions of replacing or erasing his origins. She would always talk to Kevin about Susan Kryder, take him to visit her grave whenever he wanted to, and ask him about things they used to do together.

She then looked again at Kevin. He was still on the brick edge of the park trail, but he was just standing there, looking to the trees on the left side of the trail. Scully knitted her brows in confusion as she was not able to distinguish the look on Kevin's face - it was a mix of attention and worry. He wasn't even blinking.

"Are you okay, honey?", she asked, coming closer, searching for anything that could be wrong, but she found nothing at first glance. Was he afraid of something he saw, or thought he saw? He didn't answer her at first, but then looked at her with eyes full of doubt.

"Kevin, what is wrong?", she inquired, lowering herself a little to look straight to his eyes.

He looked back into the trees were he had been staring at and again at her, seemingly making his decision.

"Come with me, Dana.", he said, taking her hand and pulling her away of the concrete path and into the trees. It was far from being dense woods, but one couldn't see beyond after a certain distance at that time in the afternoon.

"Did you see or hear something?", she asked, her other hand already reaching for her wand inside her pocket.

"Sort of.", the boy answered, taking her somewhere into the park.

"Kevin, I cannot help if you won't tell me what is happening.", she said, with a hint of scolding.

"We are almost there, I promise.", was his only answer.

Soon enough, he stopped, and they were so into the trees they could see another side of the park, with the concrete path beyond and some people strolling there. But it was getting dark and where they were, they could not be seen.

"Kevin, please, tell me wha…", she started, but she cut her sentence for she had turned to her son and was finally seeing the answer.

Kevin was kneeling next to a robin on the ground that seemed severely wounded - his wings laid in strange angles and it had claw marks and blood coming out, probably some stray cat living in the park had gotten it and left it behind after hearing them come closer.

From where she stood it seemed dead, but coming closer to kneel next to her son, pulling her hair behind her ears to see it better, she saw it had a shallow breathing. It didn't look like it would last much longer.

"Oh, no...", she said, looking at the little bird. She wanted to ask him how on Earth he knew that wounded bird was laying there, but she saw Kevin was reaching to take it on his hands. She held his arm gently to stop him. "Don't move him, it might hurt him even further. I… I'm sorry, I don't think I can help, he seems beyond anything we can do for him."

She didn't want to lie to her son and say she could do something, when she couldn't. It would break his heart, but lying would be worse. He looked at her, and his expression wasn't of sorrow. His answer surprised her even more.

"I wasn't sure if I could tell you, but then you told me your secret story that day at Diagon Alley. Now I want to tell you my secret, too.", he told her, reaching for the bird again.

Taken aback by his reaction, she didn't stop him this time. She watched as he gently got the wounded bird between his small hands, and closing his eyes, Kevin brought the bird close to his lips.

With a mix of fear and wonder, Scully saw a warm, yellow glow come from inside Kevin's palms - it wasn't powerful or blinding, but the light warmed the air around them as if it was a summer afternoon. Small blades of grass broke the cold earth underneath and around them, and the orange leaves shed by the trees slowly turned green and fresh as they moved in a strange breeze she couldn't physically feel on her skin, but she could feel its gentle warmth nonetheless. It started with a faint chirping at first, but it soon became louder and louder. When the light between his hands ceased, he opened his eyes and his hands, releasing a bird that had no wounds and no broken wings.

Nothing.

The robin was completely healed.

Scully turned to Kevin and he was watching as the bird happily flew a couple of circles around them and darted away towards the sky. He had his wide, mischievous smile back as he looked at her and laughed a little, for she probably had the most surprised, funny expression on her.

"My mum did that same face when I showed her. I think I was five or six. I thought everyone could do it, too.", he revealed.

She felt as if a locked box containing all the information in the world had been suddenly opened wide inside her mind. She saw all of it, all the connections. Her shock wasn't only due to the fact her magically untrained son had just completely healed a nearly dead bird - she _knew_ that was no magical deed, or at least not the magic she knew of and had used her entire life.

Scully thought of the case she and Mulder had worked on months before for the second time that evening, Kevin's case. A religious fanatic who was chasing around people that had Stigmata, all of them false - all of them, but Kevin. Owen Jarvis, the gardener who died while trying to save him, and would not decompose and smelled of flowers - an incorruptible. The fanatic that revealed to be much more than that.

She remembered how she, raised as a Catholic, had seen the signs and Mulder, a solid atheist, had not. Even Kevin's birthday had a totally different meaning now: September, 29th, the day reserved for the festivities praising Saint Raphael the Archangel - The Healer of God, One of the Seven Archangels.

The man who had chased Kevin back then believed the little boy would cause the end of the world, but having just witnessed that, Scully just thought he couldn't have been more mistaken.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?", Kevin asked he, his brows knit together in worry.

She stretched her arm, offering him a hug which he accepted. He wasn't asking that only out of humility and she was aware of that - Kevin was only a child and acted mostly like one, but unlike normal children, he had been through things no one could ever imagine. He already knew the world was a bad place. He knew what could happen to him if people knew about his secret. No, he wasn't asking her that out of humility, but out of _fear_. She held him tighter against her.

"Of course, my love. I promise you.", she replied, kissing the top of his head. Kevin held her back.

"Thanks, mum."

Being called that for the very first time made Scully's heart leap with surprise and a brand-new kind of joy.

 _[present - April, 28th 1996]_

Her mother stared at them as she let the couple come in, sheltering them from the cold night.

"Dana, what's going on?", Margaret Scully asked, a hint of fear in her voice. "Is something wrong with Kevin...?"

Scully rubbed her forehead, a gesture of sadness and exhaustion.

"No, mum. Don't worry, we are all fine."

"So, why are you and Fox here at almost five in the morning?", she asked once more.

"There is someone that needs our help. A little girl who is very sick.", she answered, without hesitation.

Hearing that, Mrs Scully unfolded her arms, her expression changing from slightly mad at her daughter to compassion.

"Oh, my God. Who is she?"

Scully glanced at Mulder for a second.

"It is a long story, Mrs Scully.", he answered. "And we apologize for coming here so late, and for worrying you, our coming here is really an urgency. Right, Scully?", he asked, giving his partner the opportunity she needed and an inquiring look, also intrigued by why they came to Mrs Scully's hideout in Switzerland to speak to ten year old Kevin about the little girl.

"Yes. I'm going upstairs to talk to Kevin.", and then, looking at her partner, she added, _Please, wait here Mulder. I have to speak to him alone._

He nodded and replied, _Go, quickly._

The Healer climbed the stairs and walked to the first door of the corridor, to the right. She cracked the door open very slowly, not to wake her son up so suddenly, but she saw under the soft light of the nightstand lamp his eyes were already open and when he saw her, he sat up very fast.

"Mum! I thought I heard you downstairs, but I wasn't sure… mum? What's wrong? Where is Mulder?", he asked, noticing she had a weird expression on, like something really bad had happened, and that her partner wasn't there with her.

She walked into the room and towards the bed in the middle, the window facing the opposite side of the door shedding some of the streetlight inside. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her son - something she had been afraid she would never do again earlier, when she left him safe with his grandmother.

"Mulder is okay, honey. He is downstairs. We are all fine."

Kevin's expression was a confused one.

"Why are you here in the middle of the night, then…?", he made the same question his grandmother did just a minute ago.

Scully sighed, tired and unsure of what words she would say, where to begin. How would she explain to him why she was there, that she needed to ask him to break her promise? Scully felt like a terrible mother and person as a whole for it, but there was no other option. It was either that, or the little girl - _her_ _daughter_ , she thought with a sharp sting in her heart - would be dead in a matter of days, if not hours.

"I am here because… someone is in danger, and needs help.", she started. "I will tell you the story."

Scully wasn't so out of her mind she would reveal the entire thing in full detail to her ten year old son, but in order to ask such an important thing from him, she had to be at least, mostly honest. She told him how the terrible dreams she had been having were not just dreams, but messages from a little girl locked far away in a mountain, seeking for help.

Kevin's attention was grabbed right away.

The way Scully was telling it, it sounded very much like a fairy tale, and to some extension it was true - specially considering how old fairy tales were so dark and cruel towards their characters. But Kevin was also aware that that was not merely a story about fictional characters and not only his attention was caught, but also his gentle nature and compassion were already stirring inside him.

"Who is she?", he, again, repeated his grandmother's question.

It was such a simple question, but it was on the limit between her honesty towards him and the omission of the truths too raw and still too complicated for a child to understand. However, she found another way to answer his question. She pulled her notebook from her cloak and tapped a quick message for her friends back at the Wanderers. Less than a minute later, the page showed the ID picture of the experiment known as E753, taken from her official file.

Scully turned it around to show it to Kevin and the boy picked the notebook in his hands. He stared at the younger child for a moment, under the light of his lamp. She seemed to be around five years old and seemed a little too pale and thin. Her eyes seemed to be dark shade of grey and were blinking unhappily at him, dark circles underneath them.

"She looks…", Kevin wanted to say "strange" but that was not the feeling he was getting from her in the picture, from solemn eyes that didn't fit such a young face. "She looks very sad.. Is she sick?"

"Yes. She had been very mistreated up to now, and that's causing her serious health issues."

"Like Sam?", he remembered the conversation they had about Mulder's younger sister not a long time ago, though for Scully it seemed like it had happened a decade before, after that night full of strange turns.

"Yes, just like Sammy. But her situation is worse than Sam's, honey. It is… way worse."

Kevin furrowed his brows, and looked down at the picture again, worry darkening his young features and eyes that had also seen way too much for their age.

"What's her name, mum?", he asked, looking up at her again.

Scully went silent.

That little girl had literally nothing - she had no past, no family, no name. She didn't even had the chance of having a normal conception and birth. Having her mind so busy with so many tasks, Scully hadn't thought of it under that specific light before, and now that she had, she felt a heavy curtain of sadness finally fall over her.

That child's very existence and everything around her creation, back to all the other hundreds of faceless subjects, to herself as an abductee two years prior, back to Sam's abduction and torture for over twenty years, to everyone who was impacted and who had lost their lives literally and metaphorically, like this child who was younger - way younger - than she seemed to be.

 _How any of this could possibly be real…?_

The discovery of magic, of a secret community and even her own terrible experiences in the past as a Special Auror and Unspeakable had never, ever shaken Scully's faith in God and His power. But after such horrifying thoughts and realization, after that very moment, she could almost physically feel how her faith had been undoubtedly shaken; like it was made of the most resistant, indestructible glass, and a huge crack had just appeared on its crystal-clear surface.

"M-mum…? Are you okay?", his little voice was breaking, the concern in it on the verge of becoming fear, for Scully didn't notice she was crying until the boy brought one of his tiny fingers up to her face and wiped a tear away.

The turmoil inside her that had been contained so far, was irrevocably unleashed. She held her son's face between her hands and looked at him for a moment before leaving a kiss on his forehead and pulling him close to her in a tight embrace. He returned it right away, wrapping his arms around her and though he was very confused on what was upsetting his mother so much, it was clear to Kevin she was desperately needing him. Her love for him and Kevin himself were literally Scully's only reality and her only solid, unchangeable truth she could grasp and rely on in that moment, and the living proof that the world hasn't gone entirely wrong after all.

His face leaning on her shoulder, Kevin asked her the question he knew that had to be done.

"You need my help, isn't it, mum?", he inquired, uncertain, one of his hands going straight to the little medal of Saint Raphael he wore around his neck all the time - one of Scully's birthday gifts to him when he had turned ten.

"Yes, my love.", she answered, gently pulling away from their embrace to look at him, caressing his soft hair and the side of his face, her tears running down her own face. "I swear I didn't tell anyone. I kept my promise of never telling. Not even Mulder knows _why_ we are here. And I am here to ask you for your priceless help, to ask your permission to break this promise."

She paused for a moment, before continuing.

"I… I don't want you to feel obligated to help because I am asking you this, Kevin. I want you to help because _you_ want to. Do you understand that?"

He nodded, showing her he did.

"Who is going to know about it?", he asked, after a moment of thoughtful silence.

"Mulder, the boys, Sam and the lady you healed a few days ago, Monica Reyes.", she answered.

Kevin blushed a little, as he had hopes his mum wouldn't have noticed his interference - they had talked about the uses of his secret powers in front of other people, but no one was watching then and Monica seemed to be in a lot of pain, even being unconscious. He couldn't ignore her suffering, even if he wanted to.

"I am glad you did it.", she added, taking him a little aback. "Reyes' condition was very bad, and there was a risk she would even lose the movements of her right arm. But because of you, she is fully healed. Thank you."

Kevin looked out at the window, the cold night air blowing outside. He could see a little of the snowy Alps on the horizon, from where he stood. He looked down to the Healer's notebook by his side on the bed, staring at the picture of the little girl blinking sadly at him once more.

He turned back to Scully.

"Promise they will never tell anyone…?", he pleaded.

"They won't, honey. They will promise you, too."

"Then, I will do it.", he decided.

Scully hugged her mother before leaving, and so did Kevin, who was kissed on his forehead and told by his grandmother to behave and eat well. With a goodbye from Mulder, the three of them went into the cold night of the Alps, little Kevin between them.

 _Scully, please. Are you telling me what is going on….?_

 _I'm sorry for all the secrets, Mulder, but they are part of my promise to Kevin. We will explain everything to you and the others._

He nodded at her as they walked back to the top of the hill, where there were only some empty, well-groomed lots, apparently for sale. There, away from eyes that could have been watching them, Mulder sent a message to the Wanderers to open the house and Scully conjured another Portkey.

In a matter of minutes, they were back into the Wanderers' headquarters for the second time that night.

Sam, Reyes and the Wanderers came to the main room and when they saw who was the person Scully was supposed to bring as help, the boys glanced at each other, puzzled, and Sam tilted her head in her usual confused expression.

Reyes squinted at Scully but as fast as a thought, she realized - how she had healed so quickly and why Kevin was by her side when she woke up. It also explained the strange, dreamy feeling she had when she first awakened. She had heard of people who had the gift of healing maladies before - they say Saint Mungos was one of them, himself -, but she would have never guessed Kevin was one of them.

"Hum… Miss Scully?", asked Byers, still confused. "Why did you bring Kevin back? Where is the person you said that would help the little girl?". It was clear he and the Wanderers were thinking the exact same thing Mulder had thought back in Switzerland, that Scully's involvement in all of this might be compromising her judgement and actions.

"Before anything, you have to promise that all you see here tonight, you will take with you to your graves.", she said. "You will have to promise Kevin you won't tell anyone."

Everyone except Reyes seemed even more intrigued, but all of them nodded and made their promise out loud.

"We can even perform the Segredus Guardia if you want.", Reyes suggested.

"The Spell of the Locked Secret?", asked Sam, a little uneasy. "Doesn't that kill the involved people over time…?"

"It only kills you if you tell.", Langly explained.

It was Kevin's child voice that drew their attention back to him.

"No, you already promised. That's enough.", he said, solemn. He looked up to his mother, remembering where Reyes was kept when she was still healing. "Is she in the practice room, mum?"

"Yes, honey. Let's go."

They went back to the practice room turned into infirmary once more, and the little girl was still lying there, but now she had on her the help of a spell to breathe, probably cast by Monica - as an Auror, she had training in first-aid spells. A faint mask-like shape made of greenish light covered the little girl's nose and mouth.

"She was having difficulties to breathe, and we also gave her the potion to make her fever go down, along with the Anti-Dehydration..", Reyes explained in a low voice as they got closer. "It worked, but she is still feverish."

"I see...", Scully said out loud, and through her mindvoice, she said, _I am back sweetheart, and I brought help. Hang on. You will feel better soon._

The bells answered back, but they sounded more distant and tired than ever. She was hanging on a fine thread of life, and Scully knew right then that if nothing was done, the girl wouldn't pass the night. She turned to Kevin and he looked back at her with his eyes that were so strangely so similar to hers. It was all the encouragement he needed from his mother.

He stepped closer to the hospital bed. The sight of the little girl caused a mix of many feelings to the young boy. He could feel her illness _becoming_ her, claiming the fragile body completely. Part of his secret healing powers was the ability to feel people's presence, like a special kind of fingerprint that belonged only to them, and he felt the presence of everyone in that room - his mum's was warm, vivid and bright like a bonfire; Mulder's was like strong wind whistling among trees, and Sam's was like the storm to come, electric and chaotic; Byers' was calm and deep as a lake, Langly's was electric and full of motion like huge dark clouds and Frohike's was closed, like deep woods; Reyes' presence was solid and mysterious, like waters running under rocks.

And he could distinctly feel that the presence of that little girl was lonely and waning, like a distant moon. He could feel her condition was really, really bad. He could hear the faint sound of bells ringing in the distance, rhythmically. He wasn't sure why, but it felt right to answer it.

"Hm… hi. I am Kevin. Don't be afraid, I'm here to help. I know you're scared. You see, I was alone, too, I know how it is to have no one."

The other people in the room were just there watching the scene, unsure what to feel and what they were about to see. Their hearts sank a little with Kevin's confession, and it hit hard specially on Sam. Kevin smiled at the sleeping girl.

"Everything's going to be okay.", he said, gentle, and with the certainty of truth imbued in his words.

He held the younger child's hand between his' - it felt cold. He closed his eyes, focusing, and brought her hand up close to his lips. The adults watched when the light showed up between his palms, as if he had captured a small sun with his hands.

Instantly, the air was warmer and moving around them, like summer winds. It got deep into their skin and deeper into their bones and heart, and all the stress and exhaustion of a sleepless, dangerous night melted like ice in spring. Tendrils of light shone from between Kevin's hands and covered the girl in a bright cocoon. The boy's hair flowed in that non-existent breeze and for a moment, none of the children could be seen. As soon as it had started, it all had ended. However, the gentle warmth stayed, trapped between those walls.

The light was gone and for the first time, they saw the little girl open her eyes. She looked up at Kevin, the closest face to her.

The night had finally ended - he looked down, back at the bluest skies he had ever seen.


	19. Breaking News and Notebook Messages

_[June 18th, 1996]_

 _I am sorry I wasn't able to write it to you right away, you will soon be reading this in the Daily Prophet, but I thought I should be the one to bring these appaling news. The Department of Mysteries was invaded by Death Eaters, and hundreds of Prophecies were lost forever in the duels between them and the Order of Phoenix, and as if that wasn't terrible already, the Potter boy was right all along - Voldemort revealed himself inside the Ministry, as if that was nothing. I know you were planning to return to the M-Files soon, but with such turn of events, you and Auror Scully should definitely stay where you are, since you two have a lot on your plate with the little girl's Obscurus treatment and therapies. Auror Reyes and I will keep our eyes peeled to what will run after this._

 _We will be in touch._

 _Skinner_

* * *

 _THE DAILY PROPHET_

 _September 13th, 1996_

 _ **THE "PURITY CONTROL": UPDATES ON THE CASE**_  
 _BY ANDY SMUDGLEY_

 _The staff of the organization called "Purity Control" started to face trials this afternoon. It's still soon to tell what their fates will be, but the whole Wizengamot was present in what the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Bones has revealed as being "one of the most terrible cases we [the Wizengamot] have ever had to deal with, and a dark stain on the History of Magic itself"._

 _The Administrator of the facility where the experiments took place, Scott Ostlehoff, and the leader of the entire Purity Control organization, Carl Gerard Bush Spender, were the first to be brought into court on September 5th, and were respectively sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban and a lifetime in the prison wing of the St. Mungo's Hospital For Magical Maladies and Injuries. Healers called in by the Wizengamot presented evidences that Spender was not fully capable to answer to his crimes due to a strong and complete memory erasure that no one was able to explain how it happened, or who was the one who cast it. However, concrete evidences, witnesses and members of the staff - including Ostlehoff himself - were able to point out Spender as the main leader of the "Purity Control" experiments and the kidnapping of thousands of both Muggle and Magical people._

 _It's being said the organization is also behind the widely known disappearance of Samantha Mulder (daughter of the deceased Auror William Mulder), who vanished without a trace in the summer of 1975, but there's still no official confirmation. The names of the Aurors responsible for the investigation and shut down of the "Purity Control" were not disclosed to the public._

 _UNDERSTAND THE CASE - page 10..._

* * *

 _[September 13th, 1996]_

 _To: Dana Scully,_

 _I've just read the news on the paper, and it's almost surreal to read it like that, and how everyone is learning about all of this. I am glad Sam was mostly left out of it, she just wants to lead a normal life more than anything, and being the spotlight of an investigation finally solved after two decades isn't the best way to achieve that._

 _I have to admit it also feels wrong that I am not being prosecuted with those people, after all I've done. Mister Skinner is adamant I shouldn't turn myself in, he says I'm already paying for the crimes I've committed through my own conscience's judgement and guilt. He also insists that I am more useful outside Azkaban, now that Voldemort really is back and that the Ministry is becoming stranger by the day, and even though part of me tells me these are only excuses for me to get away with my crimes, I still have to agree with him. There's still much more to be done, much more I can help with. Maybe undo the wrongs I did, somehow._

 _On a brighter subject, I am glad to know that Emily is one step closer of getting rid of the Obscurus and slowly being able to communicate not only with you, but everyone else. News like that make all the difference in a world like this, and I will do my best to drop by for a visit soon to see her and Kevin._

 _Take care,_  
 _Monica_

* * *

 _[July 27th, 1997]_

 _Things are getting darker and darker here in the Ministry after Dumbledore's death. Miss Reyes and I suspect some of the Ministry people are being Imperius-cursed, and honestly I have to admit it must be true - Pius Thicknesse is behaving most strangely, and the display of "former Death Eaters" like Malfoy and McNair around here in the Ministry is getting too frequent to pass as unnoticed. The Minister is doing what he can, under the circumstances we find ourselves in._

 _Now Aurors, read carefully, for what I have to say now is far from good - the worst is about to happen and it's only a matter of time. Miss Reyes and I discussed all the possibilities we could have missed that could have stopped this, but there's nothing we can do to prevent what's coming. You know what I'm talking about._

 _Please, stay safe and take care of the little ones, they will need you more than ever right now._

 _Skinner_

* * *

 _[early hours of August 1st, 1997]_

 _We were just told of what happened by one of the Wanderers' informants. You and Monica have to get away as soon as possible, it's no secret you have always been loyal to Dumbledore even after his death. Just leave and hide, you two, we will find a way through this later but your safety comes first._

 _I will discuss with the others on what we should do - if we should do anything about it. I have to admit I am tired of this - we barely got rid of Purity Control and Spender, and now Voldemort is back. Will all of this end at some point? I feel like we will always be battling stupid organizations and keeping our children and my sister alive, yes, but confined between walls forever. I hope we will be able to help somehow and make this end quicker than what it took to end the goddamn Purity Control._

 _I'll be writing again soon. For now, hide._

 _Mulder_

* * *

 _[August 7th, 1997]_

 _I am glad to hear you and Reyes are safe. We've decided what to do._

 _My sister and Byers will be coming with me to join you two in the field. Needless to say no one's quite happy with this, but we know it's what must be done. Sam feels she will be useful with her alien magic, and the rest of us can't just sit here and just wait for things to get done, as you already know. Scully, Frohike and Langly will stay to give us support and take care of the children - Emily is still extremely connected to Scully, so that's another reason why she isn't coming with us._

 _See you soon,_

 _Mulder_

* * *

 _[September 7th, 1997]_

 _To: Fox Mulder,_

 _Just… want to know if you are still there._

 _Kevin and Emily asked about you again, and when are you going to come back. They know nothing (in Kevin's case, just enough to make him stop making so many questions, but not quite. You know how he is), but they still feel our distress and they miss you, Sammy, Byers and Reyes terribly._

 _I miss you terribly, too. Please, be careful._

* * *

 _[later on September 7th, 1997]_

 _We're still here, Scully. Not even the stupid Purity Control with all their power and magic from outer space was able to bring the Mulders down, it's not Baldemort and his minions that will take the credit for that. I miss you three every second and I can't wait for all of this to end to finally come back home._

 _Give the kids a kiss and a hug for me._

 _I love you._

* * *

 _[October 13th, 1997]_

 _To: Dana Scully_

 _We are doing our best to learn Voldemort's whereabouts - we the "Earth Wizards" are doing the investigation and Sam is literally doing everything else, you wouldn't believe how amazing she is, Scully. She's using her Invisibility and MetamorphAnimagi skills to help spy on our behalf, and is constantly using her Legilimency to uncover Death Eaters in the areas we hide. She's probably saved us a dozen times now from surprise and chance attacks._

 _She won't tell us, but I just know that she is definitely trying to find Voldemort through Legilimency, too. We brought the subject up a while ago, and she told us (with a very strong certainty) that it would be hard because she has never interacted with him before, and unlike when she found Emily, she really have no clue on how or where to search for him at all. And as Skinner told us earlier this year, Baldemort having literally six Horcruxes (or seven, if we count Langly's crazy theory that Harry Potter is one, himself) probably doesn't make him easy to track, either; it doesn't stop Sam from trying, nonetheless, that little Oni._

 _She did find some useful information though, in the minds of the few Death Eaters we have encountered, like the identities of other active Dark followers and bits of Voldemort's plans we've mentioned before. But still, it isn't enough to know for certain where he is located or what his next step will be, for now._

 _Give the kids a kiss and a hug for me, as always._  
 _I love you, Scully._

* * *

 _[December 31st, 1997]_

 _Miss Scully, we need your immediate help! We were forced to battle against Snatchers and Mr Skinner was caught by and severely wounded by the Sectumsempra curse. We were prepared for it, but it doesn't seem to be working. My brother and Miss Reyes are watching him for now. Please, come soon!_

 _[January 19th, 1998]_

 _To: Dana Scully, Fox Mulder_

 _Hey, Mum. I know you sent a message earlier today, but I just wanted to say again that I miss you and dad a lot. Emily misses you both, too. I know you are taking care of Mr Skinner and that he is not doing well yet, but I hope he gets better soon so you and dad can come back home. You said you had everything under control, and you said that you didn't need my help… but I am here if you need it._

 _Love you and dad to the moon and back._

* * *

 _[First hours of February 10th, 1998]_

 _To: Fox Mulder_

 _I… I've finally gathered courage to tell Sean what happened to him. It took me almost two years, but I finally did it, I told him everything, earlier today. From my abduction, the Ganymede Project, about my message-dreams in 96, about Emily's real identity and origin. He was… saying he was shocked really doesn't describe well how it went. I don't want to go into that. In the end, he was sobbing with regret of something we all know he hadn't done at all, but of course I can't blame him for having such reaction - I would probably feel exactly the same if I learned I hurt him in the past and had no memories of doing it. I made sure to tell him that I don't blame him at all, I could never do that. I told him he was as a victim of the circumstances as I was. I was able to calm him down after the longest time… My God, I don't think I will ever be able to forget the way he looked at me._

 _Our conversation was long and exhausting, and though I am sure he understands the situation and none of us holds any grudges against the other, I know deep inside that our friendship will never be the same again, if we can still call it that. I don't think he will be able to face me again, even knowing he had no power over the situation back then. I can respect and understand that - he'd always have a fearful fascination over the Magical side, and now he knows he had all the reasons to think so. And honestly, so do I._

 _I really needed to talk to you about this... I hope you and the others are doing well._

 _Please, come home soon._  
 _I love you._

* * *

 _To: Dana Scully_

 _I am so sorry, Scully. I know how important he was to you. I really don't know what I to say, except that I am here for you, always. You can always tell me anything, anytime._

 _Tell the kids I love them, and hug them on my behalf._  
 _I love you, Scully._

* * *

 _[April 4th, 1998]_

 _To: Dana Scully_

 _Scully, you're not gonna believe this._

 _Sam was finally able to reach Voldemort (in a way) through the most impossible, improbable conduit. She finally revealed a while ago she had been trying to reach Voldemort all this time as I suspected, but unsuccessfully. Then, today she turned to the closest link to him we all know of: The Boy Who Lived himself. She said it was hard, but not impossible to track him under tons of protection spells. Strong magic, yes, but still very un-tampered, human magic._

 _Sam has just started monitoring Harry Potter and his companions, apparently another boy and girl his age who are helping him out. We've learned more about his Horcruxes and what some of them are, exactly: an old diary that belonged to Voldemort when he was still Tom Riddle, a ring from the Gaunt family, the locket of Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff's cup, which they are planning to steal, somehow, from the Gringotts. We still don't know what are the others, but they suspect one is a snake Voldemort carries around and, following the logic, it's probably another relic from the The Greatest Four. It's not Gryffindor's Sword because they already have it, so it can only be the legendary diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. They have no idea of its existence, yet._

 _We will be keeping an eye on them for more information._

 _I am not sure why, but I feel all of this is ending soon. I hope I'm right._

 _I love you._  
 _Send my love to the kids and a big hug to each one._

* * *

 _THE DAILY PROPHET_  
 _May 1st, 1998_

 _ **GRINGOTTS' SECOND BREAK-IN**_  
 _BY E. LIMUS_

 _After the shock for the entire Wizarding World that was Gringotts' break-in in 1991 - the first in all its history - the Daily Prophet's office was just informed that the bank suffered a massive break-in less than an hour ago._

 _It's not yet known what was stolen, if stolen at all, but witnesses were bewildered when a dragon from the bank's security system broke the main hall's floor, carrying three people on it's back. We have no confirmation yet of who were these riders, but it is being speculated that one of them was the Undesirable #1 himself, Harry Potter._

 _Stay tuned for extraordinary editions of the Daily Prophet today to learn more about this baffling investigation._

 _WHY GRINGOTTS KEPT A DRAGON IN ITS VAULTS? - More on page 7..._

* * *

 _[early hours of May 2nd, 1998]_

 _It finally happened, Scully. We will have to act quickly, so I will try to be succinct: through Harry Potter's mind, Sam had a glimpse of Voldemort's mind and thoughts. Unfortunately, not enough for her to know how to find him, but still. As you probably know already, there was a break-in in Gringotts and Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley have finally stolen Hufflepuff's cup and Voldemort now knows they've been chasing his Horcruxes all along. His sheer rage was what provoked the connection between him and Potter, and that's how Sam was able to see it herself. She literally described his mind as being "half human" - as in "damaged beyond repair", and no wonder she can't find him at all._

 _But I diverge - Potter and his friends went back to Hogwarts, for that's where the last Horcrux is hidden, and we are going there, too. A battle is brewing, Scully, Skinner just messaged us that the allies are gathering and I, Sam, Byers and Reyes are going to join them and help protect those children. Please, do not follow us \- stay put with the kids, Langly and Frohike. _

_I just…_

 _Tell Kevin and Emily I love them to the moon and back._

 _I love you, Scully. More than anything._

* * *

 _Stay calm and don't be afraid, Mulder._

 _Your sister is there with you and she will never let anything happen to you or the others or those children._  
 _I'd trust her with my life if I had to._

 _Please, be careful - all of you - and come home soon when all this ends._

 _I love you, Mulder. To the moon and back._


	20. Epilogue

**Just a quick note before the last chapter:**

 _Besides all the artwork I've done (which you can see on the link on my profile), I was also very motivated and inspired by music I've heard along as I wrote. It's not news I love making playlists and "soundtracks" for stuff and with Sam it was no different._

 _I picked the most important songs that would retell the story the best way and collected them into an "OST" so I would be able to share with all of you, too! You can hear on the link below:_

 _vimeo()com/296784030 - Vimeo was the only place I could upload all the tracks without any country restrictions like 8tracks or Youtube, so they can be heard online without downloading the songs, but if you really liked it or prefer it, you can download it here: mediafire()com/file/jleprhnnlbf3ovu/SAM_OST. rar/file_

 _And now, the Epilogue. See you on the End Notes!_

* * *

 _[one year and four months later - September 1st, 1999]_

He was sleeping deeply, probably dreaming of flying again, and right on the best part it was disturbed and bluntly interrupted by what it seemed to be an earthquake - but it was far, far worse than that.

"Ah, Emily!", he said out loud. He then and signed. "Don't!". He tried to sound annoyed but she tickled him and he couldn't not laugh. He wouldn't be mad at her even if he wanted to. He asked her to stop and she sat back, her bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

" _It's today!",_ she signed back, the yellow, excited words forming by her happy face. " _I didn't want you to oversleep."_

"I'm awake now, thanks to the little monster.", Kevin signed back, his usual mischievous, teasing smile on his lips. Emily shoved him playfully.

" _You are the monster! The Big Blue monster!",_ she signed, showing her tongue. Her long blonde hair, tied back in a loose ponytail, and the words of her Translation Spell changed to a bright cobalt blue.

"The cat will get your tongue if you keep doing that.", he scrunched up his nose, making a funny face at her. She rolled her eyes, her hair turning back to its natural color.

" _We do not have a cat, Kevin."_

"But we might have one, someday. Or a dog. You should be careful."

Emily sighed in boredom, not wanting to carry on the sibling battle anymore.

"Are mum and dad up already?", he asked. Emily nodded.

" _Dad told me to wake you up."_

"Ugh, I knew it. He always does that.", he knew Mulder sent Emily only to tease him, for he knew she would come in like a hurricane. But he only pretended to be mad.

"Okay, okay, I'm up now. Go and tell them I will be downstairs in a moment.", he signed.

She smiled and nodded, showing her child-crooked teeth and jumped from her brother's bed, running outside in her green pajamas. He heard her activated bracelet, the bells ringing as she went down the stairs like she was singing to herself. Kevin smiled and thought how she seemed more excited than he was.

Now that Voldemort was definitely gone, his family was back home and Hogwarts was slowly coming back to normal after dark years, his parents had finally decided it was safe for him to finally attend school for the first time ever. Due everything that had happened, he wouldn't be the only one who would only now start attending school, almost at the age of fourteen.

Many children were hidden and home-schooled during the last two or three years. No place was safe, specially for Muggle-borns like Kevin and with the war now truly gone, Hogwarts teachers visited the houses of all the students who were enrolled but unable to attend up to that moment; they performed tests to see where their skills were at. Kevin's were according to the skills of a fifth year student, now he was finally able to get his wand's allegiance. He was excited over the possibility of finally being able to get out of the house for real after so long, making friends, and most of all, he wanted to see the fabulous library his parents always told him about. He wondered for years about a place filled with hundreds of books and now that would finally happen.

However, he was sad that he would leave his family behind for most of the year. His parents had said that if he didn't adapt to it, he should just send a notebook message and they would bring him home to find another alternative - there were way smaller, more modern magic schools hidden in residential areas nearby that would let him go home daily like any regular, Muggle school, but Kevin wanted to give Hogwarts a try since every magical people he knew had studied in there. The prospect of living in a real castle filled with ghosts and ancient stories seemed too wonderful not to try.

He left his bed, changed into the clothes he would wear on the trip that day, and knelt down next to his open trunk, looking through his things and double-checking if he was taking everything he needed. He checked if all of his books and clothes were there, his supplies, cauldron, some of his favorite books and comics, and most importantly, his first mother's picture - he had always wondered what she would think of him now, going to a real school of magic. With a gentle touch over her picture, he thought she would probably like the idea, too. With a bittersweet smile, he put it back inside one of the hard-covers.

It didn't take long for him to notice the colorful wrapping paper showing through his rolls of parchment and socks, deliberately hidden underneath them. With a puzzled face, he pulled it out and saw it was a considerably heavy box. The boy opened the little note taped on the front, which said _To Kevin._ He recognized Scully's fine handwriting.

 _An early birthday gift from all of us, so you can have something from home in your first days at school and help you through your adaptation. We all hope you enjoy them!_

 _Love,_

 _Your family._

Kevin let out a little laugh, realizing he was seeing his early gift _way too early_ \- he was supposed to see it only after he arrived at Hogwarts and unpacked. He thought he could just put it back and pretend he hadn't seen it yet, but his curiosity was already peeking. Looking at the door left ajar, he heard voices talking downstairs. Everyone seemed to be there and he was the only one upstairs. He turned to the box wrapped in paper that had a pattern of colorful chubby dragons - he knew right away Emily had picked it - and carefully opened it, not to tear it.

There was a beautiful box underneath, made of thin, but very sturdy dark wood and golden details. He unlatched and opened it, looking through its contents - it was evident that the box had been charmed to feel lighter in weight and to be able to hold much more than it physically could.

He saw his parents' gift right away - a pocket telescope made of brass, other astronomy books besides the one required for school, and an introduction guide of healing magic for beginners - " _Reach for the stars and always look at things you already know from different perspectives. Love you to the moon and back, Mum & Dad." _.

"Thank you…", he whispered with a huge smile, looking at the gifts for a little longer.

His sister's gift was a cheerful bracelet made of colorful star-shaped beads that she obviously had made herself, decorated with a single bell. Kevin melted a little. He controlled his urge to put it on right away, as he wanted them to think he hadn't seen anything yet and carry on with their surprise. However, instead of putting it back with the other gifts, he just placed it in his pocket so he could wear it after he was already aboard the train.

Aunt Sammy had given him such a ridiculous amount of candies and snacks he was afraid he could be stopped by the police and be arrested for selling food without legal permission - it included a small box of chocolate frogs, mini apple pies, cakes and other pastries that she had made for him and magically preserved so they wouldn't go bad; gummy owls, marshmallows that would make you mimic animal sounds with perfection, caramel fizzy bunnies and so on. He probably had a stash for months in there and Sam's note to him only confirmed it - written in her beautiful, flourished handwriting, it said " _Goodies, so you won't miss home too much. You can also share with your new friends."._ He would probably try some of them in the train, later.

Aunt Monica had given him some books that seemed old and worn about advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, and a couple of other books on magic, but according to the Muggle point of view. _"Here are some great books to learn and also great books to laugh a little. Have a great school year, sweetheart."._ The former Auror had an odd sense of humor, but he was already used to both his dad and Aunt making bad jokes to each other, which meant he would probably love it.

The Wanderers' gifts were in a kit with things from all of them. Uncle Langly gave him CDs from all the bands Kevin liked and other new bands for him to know, and a discman - Langly and Sam had finally discovered a way of hacking electronics to work with magic, with it being the battery itself, no electricity or other Muggle technologies being involved. " _Keep rocking, kiddo!",_ said his note.

Uncle Byers had given him three books from a series called "The Circle of Magic", and two books from another series called "Witches of Eileanan"; both sets were wrapped individually with colorful ribbons and a note on them said " _These are still going on, but I thought you would like them. Enjoy the reading!_ ".

And last but not least, Uncle Frohike's gift was a small kit of Dark Arts detectors. His note said _"Don't ever let your mother, aunt or sister come near the Sneakoscope when it is turned on. Seriously, just don't. Already miss you, kid."_

Kevin laughed - Aunt Sammy had actually told him of how she had met the Wanderers and how his mum was about to murder someone when all the Sneakoscopes in the house went mad with his mother's and aunt's presence. When he asked why the Detectors would go bananas around them, his aunt hesitated a little before answering that _"Miss Scully and I are a myriad of walking suspicious stuff happening all at once."_

He didn't fully understand what she meant with that, but he was aware it had something to do with the fact both his mother and aunt had been taken by the same people they had also rescued Emily from. He wasn't told the details of anything, but it was as clear as water for anyone to see none of them could be considered "normal" witches in many aspects - Sam was powerful, had glowing eyes with usage of magic and she had no need for wands; his mother had had dreams for months about his sister calling for help before they had even met (which was still a mystery on its own to Kevin); and Emily was five years old, looked like she had around eight and was as powerful as his Aunt who was five times older than her - and he was aware Sammy was _extremely powerful._

The list would be as long as the length of both his legs together, the more he thought about it - after he had saved Emily's life three years earlier, she also had to go under treatments with potions and see a Magic Therapist to heal something else his secret healing powers were not able to reach: an Obscurus dwelling inside her. She was completely free from it after a year and a half of therapy, but she still had to attend it, weekly.

She still had to take supplements and eat frequently, just like Sam; at first, it was thought that Emily could not speak due to the fact she went through really bad stuff, but apparently she was already born like that. That didn't stop her from being a chatterbox, however.

Kevin put everything back into the wooden box and finished his packing. They were probably waiting for him.

He left his room and took the stairs. He would pretend he hadn't seen the gifts - he wanted to carefully go through all of them, read and listen and enjoy everything before carefully and thoroughly writing a message back, telling them how much he liked everything. Which was already the absolute truth, even though he had only looked through them quickly.

Downstairs, everything and everyone was busy, typical from a morning in that house with way too many people: his parents were freeing a table from piles of paper and quills so they could have breakfast, Scully with Emily hugging her around her waist, Langly conjured the plates and cups that tidied up on their own on the table and Byers was preparing everything he needed to take to work.

Breakfast on the making, rolls of parchment, bottles of ink, plates and mugs crossed the air in a storm of ultimate chaos, but nothing clashed or broke - it was like seeing the weirdest ballet in the world. Food was usually done and the table set in less than five minutes.

He looked at his Aunt as she conjured the breakfast with Frohike's help. Her stormy presence was bolder than the usual that morning - it was enough for him to know she probably had a nightmare. They were not as frequent as they used to be, but she would still have them from time to time; she had learned how to control her explosions waking up from them, but it didn't stop Kevin from sensing whenever she had one. She would rather go as nothing happened, so he acted accordingly.

Emily, being the first to see Kevin showing up in the main room, ran to him with her bracelet ringing in her excitement.

"Good morning, honey.", his mother greeted, seeing the little girl pull him by the hand, closer to the group of adults.

"Morning.", he greeted back, sitting down on his usual place. Emily sat on her chair by him, now that her job of waking her brother up and bringing him to the table was complete. Kevin yawned.

"Did you sleep well or did the anticipation get in the way?", Mulder inquired, taking his place at the table between where his sister usually sat and his partner.

"I was only able to sleep after 1AM or so. My head wouldn't shut up, thinking of today."

"That's the worse, when our minds are just racing like a dragon hit by a Conjunctivitis Curse." Sam added, slightly confirming what he had sensed, as she and Frohike joined the breakfast now they had finished conjuring the porridge and bread, jam and cheese out of the kitchen. It was all landing gently on the table, as if invisible waiters were serving them.

"If you are too sleepy, you can always take a nap on the train, it takes a few hours to get there so there will be plenty of time.", Langly suggested, as Byers sat next to him, being the last one to join them at the table.

"I don't know if I will be able to sleep at all!", Kevin said, starting his porridge - it was exactly the way he liked it, not too sweet. "I bet there will be a lot to see."

"The excitement lasts only the first two hours, it gets a little boring after that, only seeing the landscapes and all the cows." Mulder chuckled, slicing some cheese to eat with his bread before the porridge. Then, trying to sound a little bit less of a party pooper, he added "But you will probably share your compartment with someone and maybe make a new friend."

 _"Is that how you met mum?"_ , Emily signed, the Translation Spell written next to her changing the colors from yellow to orange in her curiosity and excitement.

"I am very sorry to be a bearer of bad news, children, but your mother was a juvenile delinquent. Constantly breaking the dress code, back-talking the staff. Imagine that!", Mulder revealed with a serious expression contrasting to his mocking voice tone. "She was polishing trophies as detention when we met."

"So were you.", Scully replied, going with the joke. She leaned towards her children, as if telling a terrible thing. "For trespassing into the Forbidden Forest. For the tenth time. _Imagine that._ "

Kevin and Emily laughed, not really being able to picture their parents as such types of kids. For children, their parents have always been adults their entire lives.

"But yeah, she was on her second year, and so was I, we started to share train compartments after that, and later with Reyes, when we met on the third year.", Mulder finished.

"By the way, how is she? It's been a while since Miss Monica sent news from Mexico.", Sam asked, finishing her first porridge bowl and conjuring a second.

"She sent a message yesterday.", Scully answered. "Her research on whales and the magical uses of their singing is going pretty well. And she said she is doing very good, herself."

"That's great news", Frohike pointed out. "About the whales and about her, really."

"Yes. The last decade wasn't easy for Miss Monica at all.", Byers said. "I'm happy for her."

"We all are.", Scully said. Reyes would always be her friend, first school sweetheart, and greatly thanks to all her that Emily was sitting there with them and eating her porridge. She deserved all the happiness in the world. "She told me she will share with us the results of her research after she gets something more solid."

The rest of the breakfast went on with an excitement in the air. Soon enough, Kevin's trunk was brought downstairs and it was time to say goodbye to the Wanderers.

"Are you sure you don't want to come along?", Mulder asked.

"Come on, the kiddo won't want his entire family, cats, dogs and parrots with him on the platform. No need to add three old dudes to make things even more embarrassing to him on his first contact with the other cool kids.", Langly said, playfully. "Right, kiddo?"

Kevin gave him a hug, after doing the same to Byers and Frohike.

"You are not embarrassing at all."

Frohike smiled at the boy.

"We will miss you, kiddo.", he said.

"Have a good school year.", Byers completed.

"And see you on Christmas to continue our RPG campaign.", Langly added, finally.

"See you, Uncles.", the boy said before turning to his parents, sister and aunt who were waiting for him in the middle of the main room.

With Mulder and Scully each Apparating with a child, and Sam Apparating by herself, they showed up in an alley that had a car from the Ministry waiting for them, prepared by the Aurors on the previous night. Everyone got inside and Scully drove them all to the King's Cross Station, not to draw attention to their arrival.

Sam decided to go with them not only to hug her nephew goodbye, but also to see how it was like for her brother when he went to Hogwarts and imagine just a little how it would be if she was never abducted and would have been able to go with him, too. They've talked about that before, right after she had just showed up, and that always made her a bit curious. She was also going along to get used to go out of the house more often - she had been confined most of her life, and even back when they were on the field against Voldemort, they were always hiding, always in fear for their lives. She wanted to change that for once, now everything was clear and truly safe for her. She had thought how she was free when they had brought the Purity Control down, but little did she know that would only happen for real three years later.

After the fall of the Purity Control, the Mulders, Scully, Reyes and the Wanderers had another problem in their hands: the war against Voldemort, up until 1998. It was a terrible period, even more with all of them raising two children in the secret Wanderers house, both of them extremely traumatized and one of them that needed special care and treatments. But they managed to do it, and they managed to survive through it all, against all odds - and wanting it or not, with the thought that if they didn't, Kevin and Emily would be alone again and that not single one of them could stand.

They fought and they lived, and they won yet another battle they hoped would be the last.

The M-Files was open again and with the help and support of Skinner, Mulder and Scully were finally able to get back, which surprised a great deal of people that thought that that Department was dead for good after years abandoned. They were finally able to start studying the Star Elf vessels and evidences they took from the facility three years prior.

Reyes was offered to stay too, but she politely declined it, saying she needed to simply go away and try to find herself again. Fortunately, fighting against the P.C. and against Voldemort and his followers later didn't take the lives from anyone in their group, but Monica Reyes paid a high price for walking among the wolves for way too long. She went away and traveled around to many places, looking to see the beauty in things again and six months prior she apparently had found something that would finally fulfill her, and help her heal.

They had arrived at the King's Cross like Muggles, but there was no way they wouldn't draw attention to them with Sam in the group, tall and dressed in dark colors, long haired and looking as menacing as a storm coming. The scars on her body were more subtle now that she was properly fed with rich homemade food and supplements - and also, emotionally. However, Scully's opinion as a Healer and as an Auror from the M-Files was that Sam's scars would never really go away, for that is the nature of marks left behind by dark spells.

In the arms of her aunt, Emily did notice the weird stares towards Sam, and how uncomfortable she seemed to be among so many people, so the little girl disobeyed her parents' strict orders not to use her powers in the open like that, and made an Illusion around her aunt - people wouldn't bat an eyelash to her more than once. Emily smiled with mischief to herself, aware her kind of magic was not traced by the Ministry, which would be a very dangerous mix - a child so young with such powerful magic -, but she stayed obedient to the instructions from her mum and dad. Most of the time.

They stopped between the platforms nine and ten, and they crossed it in groups - Scully with Kevin as he pushed his trunk and then Mulder and Sam, both holding Emily's hands. It didn't take much time for her to start bouncing between her father and aunt, her bracelet ringing happily. Crossing the passage, they saw the huge red train at the platform and entire families swarming the place - parents, children, teenagers and their pets walking around, trying to find an empty compartment and hugging their family before going up the train. Suddenly, they saw a huge orange tabby cat run past them, followed by a girl around Kevin's age who bumped against Mulder as she passed by, running after it.

"Oh, I'm very sorry Mister!" she apologized quickly and started to run again. "Florence! Florence, come back here _right now_ , you dumb cat!"

Mulder laughed a little at the girl and her runaway cat, and turned to Kevin, encouraging him to go find a compartment and put away his stuff safely.

The boy went up the train, his trunk floating in the air smoothly before his wand as he looked through all the compartments, all of them already taken. It was only after some time, in the final section of the train, when he found an empty one. He lifted his wand, making his trunk float towards the overhead luggage rack.

"Hey! Can my cousin and I stay here with you? The rest of the train is super full."

"Sure, come in.", Kevin answered still looking up as he concentrated on his task.

"I'm Brandon Gao, by the way. My cousin is on her way."

Kevin turned towards the boy to also introduce himself and he was glad he didn't look at him when he was placing this luggage away, for he would probably have dropped it, immediately distracted - Brandon seemed to be around his age, he wasn't sure. Maybe a year older. His hair was dark and straight, his skin was a dark shade of tan and his eyes were a contrasting light brown and had an epicanthic fold, like many East Asians also have.

"So, what's your name?", the boy asked, smiling as he lifted his wand to put his luggage away as well.

"Oh, I am Kevin Kryder-Scully... Nice to meet you.", he said. And then, feeling suddenly shy around that boy, he added. "I-I'll talk to my family, I'll be right back."

He walked through the train's corridor a little uncertain, but he quickened his pace as a loud whistle rang and he noticed everyone was getting ready to go. When Kevin came back to say good-bye, he thought he would be able to hold the tears back, but it only took him a glimpse of them again to start crying.

"Oh, honey, come here.", Scully said, holding him close to him, kissing the top of his head - which now he had to bend towards her a little so she could reach it. Seeing her older brother distressed, Emily came and hugged him around his waist, her bright blue eyes and hair turning a very dark shade of blue showing her worry.

"We will be right here, son. Just message us at anytime.", Mulder added, coming closer, his hand caressing the boy's head and landing on his shoulder.

"It is okay to feel a little nervous. Like Langly said, we will be here when you come back in December. Mum and Mrs Scully will also come for Christmas this year.", Sam told him.

Kevin just nodded at his aunt - he felt like if he said anything the tears would come even more, but he managed to hold it back the best as he could . He had no problems crying in front of his family, but he felt a little shy, surrounded by so many strangers.

"Bye, mum.", he said, holding her tight back.

"Goodbye, honey. Have a nice trip."

He turned to Mulder and did the same.

"Bye, dad."

"Bye, son. And don't do anything your mother would do as a twelve year old."

After a little hesitation, Scully replied.

"Yes. Please don't, Kevin.", she said, laughing a little. The boy chuckled, already feeling a bit better.

He turned to Emily, who had been skipping towards him, her arms up. He lifted her up and swayed her sideways in their embrace.

"Goodbye, little monster. I will miss you."

" _I will miss you too, Big Blue."_ , he read the dark blue words of the Translation Spell in front of his eyes as they hugged, her bells ringing in the way it always did when she was sad.

Putting her down, he turned to his aunt and hugged her tight.

"Bye, Aunt Sammy."

"Bye, sweetheart.", she said, and when they went apart, she made a gesture with her right hand, conjuring a small chocolate bar, wrapped in purple shiny paper, which she offered him with a gentle smile. He smiled back as he got it from her. The whistle sounded loudly through the platform again, making Emily cover her years with both her hands. Kevin climbed onto the train and out the door. The train began to move and he saw his little sister start to cry.

"I will write to you, Emily.", he said, seeing her go to Scully's arms so she could see him better. "I will write to all of you."

"Love you, Kevin!", Mulder said.

"To the moon and back!", he answered, waving goodbye.

The strangest family in the world stood in the platform as they saw their son, brother, nephew wave goodbye in the distance, as they waved back. Emily quickly jumped down from her mother's arms and ran with the train, stopping and waving at it at the end of the platform, her hair changing colors as fast as an Indonesian Chameleon Dragon would.

Kevin was sad by the separation, which would be a first to him since Scully had adopted him into her life, bringing an entire family for him with her. He wiped away his tears as he headed to his compartment. He at least was certain that his journey to Hogwarts wouldn't be a solitary one. When he got to the compartment, he tried not to blush again when Brandon smiled friendly at him. He was about to close the door when someone held it open - it was the girl from earlier, now tightly holding her huge cat close to her with one hand and her wand up with the other, bringing her luggage along behind her.

"Oh! it's you! Hey, Brandon!", she waved to him inside the compartment with her wand's hand.

Kevin stepped aside and gave her space to come in - she was probably Brandon's cousin he had mentioned earlier. They had similar features, like the dark hair and dark skin, but she had more Southeastern Asian features, with a broader nose, rounder brown eyes and a slightly darker skin tone.

"I am happy you got your cat back in time."

"Ugh, don't even mention. Florence was being such a moody brat. Which is weird, because she is usually very obedient. I think she just got a bit nervous around too many people, it's out first time going to Hogwarts."

"Mine, too."

Brandon squinted at his cousin as she closed the door and let go of Florence, letting her wander in the space. She rubbed against Kevin's legs as she walked towards Brandon, landing on his lap with a swift jump.

"Do you know each other already?", Brandon asked, confused.

"Yes and no.", Kevin said, a bit of his mischievous smile coming back to him.

"I almost ran over his father when I was chasing after Flo back on the platform.", she answered. She quickly added "I am sorry about that!"

"That's okay, he is tough." He chuckled. "I am Kevin, by the way."

"I am Lizzie, Lizzie King." She smiled as they shook hands. Kevin could already sense their presences filling up the compartment, like a dense, but luscious forest in the summer, fresh and rich and full of bright colors. He smiled back at Lizzie and then looked at Brandon, who held an expression of amusement over his cousin's clumsiness.

Feeling the train moving beneath his feet, Kevin hoped they would like Aunt Sammy's candies and homemade pastries as much as he did.

Back on the platform, his family was already starting to feel the separation, but they all knew deep inside it was a good kind of goodbye. Kevin would be alright - he would learn, have fun and lots of new experiences to tell them after he returned. And he would probably break some rules, of course, because that's what a Scully-Mulder child does sooner or later.

The strangest family in the world saw the train disappear in the distance.

All was well.

* * *

 _"Trust me now,_  
 _I feel the winds are changing..._  
 _I know we can turn the tide_  
 _Together we can change the way things are_  
 _Better take a look inside_  
 _All we need is love_  
 _Love,_  
 _Love." **  
**_

* * *

 **FINAL NOTES:**

 _I don't even know what to say._

 _Back in October 2016, I started writing this story - at first as a result of me being a major nerd wanting to combine two of my favorite universes together, but in the end it was entirely transformed into something bigger than I've ever expected in many aspects, and it ended up helping me through difficult times more than I could possibly express. This story was my escape and my safe haven for months. And not only it helped me a lot, but it was also ridiculously fun to create._

 _I hope everyone who read it likes it as much as I did, and feels embraced by and a part of the Weirdest Family as much as I do._

 _My Sam (both fanfic and character) will always have a special place in my heart. It makes me thrilled to finally see it finished with so many chapters (I've never wrote something so long and detailed like this! I have to say I am surprised myself), at the same time it makes me super, super sad because now it's over and even though it's been exact two years today, it feels like it's way too soon to say goodbye. I have no idea if I will write to this universe again, but I really want to, and I definitely will if inspiration for it strikes. I of course, also accept any suggestions or prompts you might have, that would be super cool!_

 _But for now, this is not only Kevin's goodbye to his Weirdest Family, but also my own goodbye for now to this universe, quoting "Turn the Tide" by Johnny Hates jazz - it pretty much became Sam's "ending credit songs / theme" in my head as I wrote it and here it closes the story, exactly like that; Kevin will also be accompanied by my "Hogwarts Mystery" character Lizzie King and her cat Florence (https():()/()bit()ly/2UWFCkn), so I know he will be in good hands (but maybe in a lot of troubles and adventures too, haha)._

 _And if you who are reading on FFNet haven't already, please look for the fic on Archive Of Our Own as well, where it features little header illustrations that I wasn't able to feature here._

 _This was a fun ride._

 _I wouldn't have done this far without Sam, and without you._

 _Thank you, everyone._


End file.
